'It's a very big deal' - curlew eggs hatch after being saved from wildfire

'It's a very big deal' - curlew eggs hatch after being saved from wildfireJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleLucy CarlinBBC News NISliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust and RSPBTwo of the four chicks which came from the eggs saved in the wildfireIt's been a happy ending for the eggs of an elusive bird that were just inches from the flames of a large wildfire earlier this year.Saved by firefighters during the blaze in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, the four curlew eggs have now hatched.The chicks will eventually be released into the wild, and conservationists are delighted.The curlew was once a common sight, but numbers have fallen in recent years and there are now thought to be just 150 breeding pairs of curlews left in Northern Ireland. NIFRSDuring a wildfire in County Fermanagh earlier this year a curlew nest was found in the fire's pathRóisín Normanly of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) told BBC News NI that the curlew nest had been fenced off to protect it - but within 24 hours a wildfire had broken out.At its height, 85 firefighters battled the blaze but despite challenging conditions, they were able to protect the nest.Normanly said the fire crews "kept the fire back while we got into the eggs".She said: "The fire was about a metre from the nest when we got there, so it was really close to the bone. "But we got there just in time."The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it worked with the RSPB and the eggs were "safely removed for incubation" so they had "a chance of survival".A host of agencies was involved in the conservation effort including the Forest Service, Conservation Detection Dogs NI and the Sliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust.Sliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust and RSPBThe chicks are just over a week old as this infrared camera showsNormanly explained that the eggs "were collected very carefully, wrapped up individually...