As surveying for Long-eared Owls winds down for this season, the results are stark. There has been a widespread breeding failure this year with only two chicks fledging from a single nest, from 14 known nest sites.
There are still a few more sites to be visited, but to date, the breakdown is as follows:
Duhallow (NW Cork & E Kerry) 14 sites, 2 chicks at 1 site.
Co. Clare 1 site, no chicks.
Connemara 2 sites, no chicks (though 3 eggs were laid in 1).
Co. Dublin 4 sites, 1 chick.
Co. Galway 5 sites, no chicks.
Co. Kerry (outside Duhallow) 5 sites, 1 chick.
Co. Mayo 2 sites, no chicks.
West Offaly 19 sites, 1 chick.
TOTAL 62 sites, with only 5 chicks at 4 sites.
Empty Long-eared Owl nest.
A perfect breeding site (an old Hooded Crow nest), high in a conifer, in perfect habitat, where a pair of Long-eared Owls had been displaying and holding territory all spring, only for the birds to eventually fall silent and cease their breeding attempt, a pattern repeated at many sites all over the country (Photo: M.O'Clery).
The cause for the widespread failures are largely unknown, though it may be that the unusually cold spring was a major factor.
