The first phase of the Long-eared Owl Survey in the Duhallow region has just been completed.
Typical habitat north of Ballydesmond. Several Long-eared Owls were detected in such habitat during the Survey (M.O'Clery).
Three 10km squares were chosen in which to play a tape of the male and female calls of Long-eared Owls, along with the sound of the wing-clapping display. This was done under special licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The reason for playing the calls was to entice the Long-eared Owls to react to the tape, and give us an indication of their presence. The tape was played twice at roughly 1 km intervals in each of the three squares - about 660 times at 330 sites in total. So far, a minimum of 10 and a possible maximum of 14 territories have been recorded. Phase 2 will begin shortly as the breeding season progresses, to try and locate the nest sites, leading to stage 3, re-surveying all the sites where the tape was previously surveyed in order to find calling chicks. Plenty of work left to do!
Sounds of male and female Long-eared Owls are on this page HERE.
If you see or hear a Long-eared Owl in Duhallow, please contact us. Details on this page HERE.
