NestCam Barn Owl in trouble

Many viewers of the popular Barn Owl nest box camera, based near Tralee, (see this post HERE) were dismayed to see the female chick returning to the nest box covered in oil on Tuesday night. It seems she dived into an oil container in which a rat had been struggling, though luckily for her, she was able to fly just enough to return to the box, otherwise she might not have been seen to be in trouble. She was rescued the next day, and it is hoped, will make a full recovery.

The wing and tail feathers cleaned up fairly well with the liberal application of warm water and detergent, however, the body feathers in particular were badly matted, and will need further cleaning. It is hoped the bird will recover sufficiently in the coming days to be returned to the nest box. You can read the full story on the RTE website, HERE.

UPDATE - Unfortunately the owl died, on 7th September, from ingestion of oil.

Difficult time for young Barn Owls

Over the past few years, around this time of year, a number of young Barn Owls have been reported to us, seemingly injured or otherwise in distress. It seems that a small number of owlets leave the nest a little too soon, and are sometimes unable to return to the nest to be fed. In other cases, young birds have been found in difficulty some distance from the nest. Either way, each September, one or two owl chicks are reported which, rather than being injured, are actually undernourished and often critically underweight. This seems to be related to the birds being unable to feed themselves, or of poor weather occurring just at the point when they have left the nest to become independent. Three examples are shown below.

To see a Barn Owl in daylight in Ireland is remarkable, but this bird also shows large areas of downy white feathers still on the body. It is barely able to fly and it seems was blown off its high chimney nest and was unable to return. It would certainly have died without human intervention, but was successfully returned to the nest the following morning. Co. Kerry, 2009 (Photo: Eric Dempsey).

 Another owl in daylight, this time near Kilflyn in Co. Kerry in autumn 2010. The bird being out in daylight, wings drooped, a slightly disheveled look, and being so tame, would all indicate that this bird is in serious trouble. It is possible it could have been poisoned, though most likely it is a young bird which was unable to find food. Its fate is unknown (Photo: with kind permission, Karen Davison).

This unfortunate young owl was only out of the nest two weeks or so when it was handed in, in a seriously weakened condition after being been picked up from the ground just 50 m from the nest in a chimney of a two-story farmhouse. This was after a period of prolonged, heavy rain over three days in early September, which probably meant it couldn't hunt. It weighed only 220 grammes instead of a more typical 280, and despite much attention, died the following morning (Photo: M.O'Clery).

If you do come across an owl in a weakened condition, do let us know. It takes considerable care and expertise to nurse a badly undernourished bird back to health. Unfortunately, a few birds succumb each year, and with the wet weather continuing, it is possible that you might see or hear of one.

The Barn Owl's secret weapon

Below, an unusual picture of a Barn Owl's ear, photographed during the Duhallow Barn Owl Survey this summer. The ear opening is much larger than on comparably sized birds, and the openings are slightly asymmetric on each side of the head, allowing more precise location of sounds.

Barn Owl ear (M.O'Clery).

The heart-shaped facial disc which is so prominent on Barn Owls, is composed of slightly stiffer feathers, and it is believed that these further channel sound toward the ears, further enhancing an already exceptional hearing ability.

Last Barn Owl nest?

As the summer slowly slides into autumn, and the breeding season draws to a close, there are only a few Barn Owl nests still containing young. About half of all Barn Owl nests failed to produce any young this summer, due mainly to the extremely wet weather, and at the majority of those sites which produced young, the fledglings have departed to find their own way in the world. 

However, we received a phone call recently from an interested farmer in Duhallow, who reported three young Barn Owls on the roof of a derelict cottage. Upon investigation, they bred in the chimney of the old house, and fledged about mid-August. One was still present a week ago, but last night, all were gone, though one of the parents still arrived at the nest at dusk to have a look around.

Perhaps this will be the last nest discovered during this summer's survey?

A rare photograph of two young Barn Owls on the chimney of a derelict house just outside Duhallow, in late August 2009. At this age they are fully developed and are indistinguishable from adults, though their exaggerated head-bobbing behaviour and loud 'snoring' calls showed them to be fledglings (Photo: N. Sheehan).

Kestrel ringing recovery

A Kestrel, which was ringed on 4th June this year as one of a brood of five chicks near Ardfert in Co. Kerry, was found injured on the outskirts of Athlone a few days ago. The bird had most likely been struck by a car and had a damaged leg. It is now with an experienced falconer in Co. Monaghan and should make a full recovery. Concerned locals had found the bird and were finally able to place it in the appropriate care, with the help of local vets and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

One of these five chicks crossed half of Ireland before being struck by a car (You can click on the image for a closer view). It will hopefully make a full recovery (Photo: John Lusby).

Late Long-eared Owl nest

As the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project moves into the second half of August, all the young Kestrels have fledged, while all Barn Owl chicks have hatched and quite a few have fledged. The few Long-eared Owl chicks that made it to fledgling stage were mostly well-developed and mobile by late June, and have already dispersed away from their nest sites. 

There might still be late Long-eared Owl nests out there... (M.O'Clery).

The Duhallow Long-eared Owl Survey is on the last of four stages, and although slightly outside one of the three 10km squares of the study area, at least one more Long-eared Owl nest has hatched young, even at this late stage. They were heard and seen not too far from Newmarket on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

So if you are out and about at night in Duhallow and you hear the loud and persistent squeaking of young Long-eared Owl chicks, do let us know. You can hear the sounds on this page HERE.

New Barn Owl site

The Duhallow Barn Owl Survey has revealed some unusual nest sites in summer 2012, including one in a water tank (see this post HERE), one in an unfinished new house (see this post HERE) and three in tree cavities (see this post HERE). 

Another new nest was found yesterday, though in many respects it is a fairly typical nest site in Ireland. It is in a secluded, abandoned two story farmhouse in Duhallow, with many slates missing and the inner floors collapsed. Two fully developed young, well able to fly, were in the upper section of the house, and there was much evidence of pellets and feathers indicating they were there for quite some time. Indeed, locals tell us they have seen owls at this site for many years.

One of the more typical Barn Owls sites in an abandoned farm house (Photo: M.O'Clery).

Like many Barn Owl sites in Duhallow, and elsewhere in Ireland, the young must now be on the verge of leaving, and it might even be the case that there were three or more chicks here, and that some have already left. These coming weeks are fraught with danger for the fledglings as they leave the relative safety of the nest site to find their own territories. Young Barn Owls appear to disperse in random directions, and can travel between 10km and 100 km or more, and once they leave, they won't be back. Hopefully they will survive the dangerous journey and find their own secure nest sites.

Ballyferriter female pairs up

The female Barn Owl from Ballyferriter, which was recently re-trapped at a site in Duhallow, has paired up with a male. After previously nesting successfully in 2011 at Ballyferriter, near Dingle, she was still present yesterday evening at her new site in the chimney of a disused cottage in Duhallow. The pair were seen to indulge in courtship feeding and mating at the site. 

A female Barn Owl, originally from Ballyferriter, now paired up and apparently nesting in Duhallow (Photo: M.O'Clery).

Had this behaviour been observed in spring, you would conclude that the pair were at the stage of laying eggs, but as it approaches mid-August could the new pair be really considering nesting this late? It's certainly possible. Fledged young have been recorded still at the nest as late as early December at one or two Irish sites, but it would be unusual. If they are just about to lay eggs now, the young wouldn't fledge until mid-November. It would be a high-risk strategy, as the young would need to become fully independent before the worst of the winter weather kicks in, but if the autumn and early winter prove mild and dry (and surely it can't get any wetter than this summer?) then they might just make it. We will be watching this site with great interest in the coming weeks.

You can read about re-trapping the female on this page HERE

How long before a nest box is used?

Despite the poor breeding season in 2012, one of the great positives during the project has been the uptake of a nest boxes by Barn Owls. A box put in place in a barn in Duhallow last November produced two young, and we have a female now resident in another which was only installed in early 2012. Another bird has been sighted at a third box.

As the Project heads toward autumn, thoughts are turning to where to place the next series of boxes, and we have already chosen a number of suitable sites. Five more boxes will be in place within the next two months, ready for any prospecting Barn Owls.

Careful siting of a nest box can greatly increase the chances of it being used. This one is in an old hay barn in Co. Kerry. A bird has been visiting it in each of the two previous winters. Will it pair up and breed there next summer? – let's hope so (M.O'Clery).

From our experience throughout Kerry and Duhallow, nest boxes might be taken up at any time after their installation. At one site, where the original nest was found to be suddenly unsuitable (slates had blown off from over the nest, allowing rain to fall directly into it), we placed a nest box close by, and the birds moved in within about five weeks and raised two young that summer. In two cases this summer, boxes which had been in place for over three years were finally used as nests by the owls. One of these had no owl activity around it for the three years, the other had birds occasionally visiting the site in winter and spring, but disappearing each summer.

Brin McDonald from the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project holds one of two chicks which hatched from a Duhallow nest box this summer. Brin and John Lusby installed the box last winter. (M.O'Clery).

So if you are planning to instal a Barn Owl nest box on your farm or premises, there are a few important points to bear in mind, which you can read about on this page HERE.

Good luck, and remember, it can be a few years before the owls move in.

Barn Owls make the news

News presenter Seán Mac an tSíthigh interviewing John Lusby at a Barn Owl site in Co. Kerry on Tuesday (Photo: M.O'Clery).

Short news features on Barn Owls featured both on RTE 1 main evening News and TG4 news programmes over the past two days. They were filmed in Co. Kerry over the past few weeks with the main clips filmed on Tuesday last.

The TG4 clip was aired on 1st August and can be seen on this website page HERE.

Search for "NUACHT TG4 - Episode:213"

The RTE clip was shown on the RTE1 main 9 O'Clock news today, 2nd August, and can be seen on RTE Player on this website page HERE (available until 10th August 2012). Search for "9pm NEWS 2nd August".