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THERE are plenty of people who devote their spare time to studying birdlife, but Kez Armstrong has gone one better. She’s become the first person in Ireland to be awarded a PhD for her work on one of our most loved birds: the kestrel. The 36-year-old Belfast ecologist – who can now call herself Doctor – spent four years at Queen’s University studying the beautiful falcon, and it was a labour of love. “The kestrel is my favourite bird – raptors were always special to me,” she told Dúlra this week. “From the data that I have collected there are probably 300 to 500 nests across the whole island. “That’s why it was so important for me to do the PhD at the time that I did it, the kestrel and indeed the merlin as well are two completely overlooked, under-the-radar birds that we haven’t got enough information on. So to collect any information on kestrels was exceptionally important because we’re on the most westerly part of their range.” Kez’s work meant she