Kestrel egg-laying now under way

Kestrels are just now entering the egg-laying phase and females will have been spending more and more time at the nest site. She will lay an egg every two days or so until the clutch is complete, usually 4 or 5 eggs. Male Kestrels will hunt ever more frequently, not only to feed themselves, but to provide food for the female at the nest as she takes on the task of incubating the eggs for the next 30 days or so. She will generally only leave the nest now for a few minutes at a time.

 Male Kestrel hovering (Colum Clarke).

A male Kestrel with prey (John Fox).

So look carefully at any Kestrels you see in the coming weeks. You will mostly be seeing males, as many females will be sitting quietly on their clutch of eggs. And if you spot a nest, keep a distance to avoid disturbing them at this sensitive time, but please, do let us know the details.

Duhallow Raptor Report 2012-13 now available to download

The Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project Report, 2012-13 is now available for free to download. It shows the results from the major two year project on Raptors in Duhallow, including detailed information on all the fieldwork, nest box and publicity aspects to the work.

Summary: In 2012 the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project (2012 – 2013) was established to undertake innovative and strategic monitoring of Barn Owls, Long-eared Owls and Kestrels in Duhallow to further our understanding of their conservation requirements and to increase awareness and appreciation of their populations.

Some of the highlights of the Report include:

 Strategic work was undertaken in three 10 x 10km survey squares to determine densities of owl species. A density of 2.6 breeding pairs of Barn Owl per 100km2 was recorded -  higher than similar findings elsewhere in the country.

A buildings survey for Barn Owls in the three 10 x 10km survey squares found a site availability of 14.6 suitable buildings per 100km2 and located seven nest sites and 13 roost sites. 

 An innovative playback and acoustic survey was also employed for Long-eared Owl for the first time in Ireland. A total of six breeding sites and seven active territories were confirmed across the three survey squares, representing a minimum density of 4.3 Long-eared Owl territories per 100km2.  

The general and strategic survey confirmed a total of 70 raptor nest sites and territories in the study area in 2012, which included 29 nest sites, nine occupied territories and 32 roost sites. 

Of 35 Barn Owl sites in Duhallow, 20 were confirmed nesting sites and 15 were regular roosts. 

In 2012, a total of eight Long-eared Owl nest sites were located and an additional nine occupied territories, and a single Kestrel breeding attempt and 17 roosts.  

A total of 68 raptor nest sites and territories were confirmed in the study area in 2013, which included 33 nest sites, 11 occupied territories and 24 roost sites. 

Of 40 Barn Owl sites, 24 were confirmed nest sites and 15 were regular roosts. 

A total of 18 active Long-eared Owl sites was recorded in 2013. Eight were nest sites and nine were occupied territories from 2012 which were resurveyed in 2013, of which only one was active. One new nest site was also located. 

One known Kestrel nest site and two occupied territories were also located in 2013 and nine roost sites recorded.

Monitoring of the 20 confirmed Barn Owl nest sites during the breeding season 2012 revealed that 13 (65%) were successful, while the remaining seven (35%) failing to fledge young. 

A breeding success of 66.6% was recorded at six known breeding attempts for Long-eared Owl with an average brood size of 2.2 young per brood.

Seventeen Barn Owl sites remained active in 2013 (an occupancy rate of 85%) though nesting took place at only three of these (a success rate of 17.6% of occupied nest sites). 

From eight active Long-eared Owl nest sites in 2013, six remained active in 2013 (an occupancy rate of 75%), though all failed to breed. 

Nest boxes

One of the first formal nest box schemes for Barn Owls and Kestrels in Ireland was undertaken for this Project. A total of 44 artificial nest sites have now been installed in Duhallow including 29 Barn Owl boxes and 15 Kestrel boxes, representing one of the highest densities in the country. 

An awareness campaign was also managed throughout the project, and the work was publicised through posters (162), and a wide range of events and presentations (16), articles in newspapers and magazines (16), and features on websites (8). 

This blog was also set up in March 2012 to make the project accessible to the general public. A total of 155 posts with information, photos and footage were featured, which attracted 37,506 page views from over 20 countries.  

A documentary on the project was also filmed for “Living the Wildlife” which aired on RTE in April 2013 and was repeated in December 2013.

To download the full report, go to this page HERE. (Opens a new window, on www.box.com, where you can view and download the file. File size is 7.9Mb).

Many Barn Owl sites in SW still occupied, despite storm damage

We've seen in recent posts some of the serious storm damage done to Barn Owl nest and roost sites in February. Now, after checking about 25 sites in Co. Kerry, it seems the majority of sites have survived with their owls still present. 

Another example of extensive storm damage, at a Barn Owl site near Tralee. Part of the end wall has been ripped away, and an entire gable end wall collapsed and slates blown off by the February storms. Amazingly, the nest box within the shed (dark area in the centre) was completely intact, and a Barn Owl was sitting inside. (Photo: M.O'Clery).

In one case, shown below, repairs had to be made to a nest box in Kerry set on top of the chimney of a derelict cottage, a site where Barn Owls have bred successfully for the last two years. Although no owls were seen to be present, while the lid of the box was removed and repaired, there was evidence that a pair were still present and nearly ready to breed. With their nest site now repaired and secured they have every chance of succeeding - if the weather behaves.

Storm damage to the lid of the box.

Inside the box, although there was no Barn Owls present inside, fresh pellets and these fresh prey items shows that a male Barn Owl has been hunting well, and provisioning his female. The hunting must be good at the moment. The prey consisted of two Bank Voles and one Wood Mouse (M.O'Clery).

 The repaired lid is back in place, and the owls ready to nest.

Last spring saw some record cold temperatures in March and April, restricting grass growth which in turn suppressed small mammal numbers. Many individual Barn Owls disappeared at this time, and only about 15% of sites produced young in Ireland last year. It is likely that some simply starved and at several sites in Kerry and nationally, unhatched eggs were found at nest sites, indicating that the male was unable to provide enough food for the female while she incubated. She would have then had to leave the eggs to hunt for herself, resulting in the eggs chilling and failing.

Another storm-damaged site, the roof of the hay barn torn away, exposing the box. This site has been rendered unusable and the box was removed to be used elsewhere.

Apart from the strong winds, spring has been fairly mild so far, but we will have to wait and see what comes of the coming breeding season. At least three quarters of the sites examined in Kerry so far this spring show signs of adults present, all the more gratifying as there can be precious few new recruits to the population from last year.

Using Barn Owls and Kestrels to replace rodenticides

A large scale innovative project has been underway in Israel and Jordan to use Barn Owls and Kestrels to reduce the number of rodents and increase agricultural productivity. See also a world record Barn Owl nest where one male and two females raised a total of 19 chicks in one go! See it on this page HERE (opens a new window).

Tree box replaced and ready

Following enormous damage to trees and property in the south west last February, a number of Barn Owl nest sites have had to have emergency repairs made. An example is shown below at a site on the outskirts of Tralee, Co. Kerry.

This mature beech tree was blown down during the hurricane force winds in February (see post below). Unfortunately it had a Barn Owl nest box in which a pair of Barn Owls raised two chicks last summer - one of the few sites to produce young last year.

The nest box lies crushed within the fallen branches. Thankfully there were no signs of Barn Owls within. The layer of pellets inside was about 15cm deep, showing that the box had been occupied for a number of years.

Community groups have been undertaking a series of raptor nest box projects in Kerry (of which, more soon), and a new box was volunteered for the site...

... and put in place on an adjacent tree. Just days later a Barn Owl was seen close by, so hopefully they are still in the area and will take up residence (Photos: M. O'Clery).