First Kestrel chicks of the year ringed

Five Kestrel chicks were ringed at a site near Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry, yesterday. These are the first to be ringed in Ireland this year, though several other nests now also have hatched young..

John Lusby , Raptor Conservation Officer of BirdWatch Ireland, rings one of the chicks. They are about two weeks old (Jill Crosher).

The nest box was one of several made and erected by volunteers from the West  Kerry branch of BirdWatch Ireland when their original nest site decayed. Since then five to six Kestrel chicks have been raised at this site every year. In the same barn is a barn owl nest box, though after last years dismal breeding season, there are no owls present this year. It was the only site in Ireland where these two raptor species, Kestrel and Barn Owl, bred in nest boxes in the same barn.

Three younger chicks at another nest box in Co. Kerry, near Castlegregory, yesterday (Michael O'Clery).

Free talk on Barn Owls at TBWC, Tuesday 20th

The Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre.

John Lusby, Raptor Officer for BirdWatch Ireland, will be giving a talk on The Barn Owls of Kerry

at the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre, Tralee

On Tuesday 20th May 2014, 7.30pm.

Free and open to all.

Kerry Kestrels - a request for sightings

With the Kerry Raptor Conservation Project ongoing this year, we are requesting any sightings of Kestrels during May and June this year, particularly if they relate to possible nesting - two birds calling excitedly, birds repeatedly visiting a cliff or tree, or a Kestrel carrying food. If you see any, anywhere in Co. Kerry, please contact michaeloclery@gmail.com or text the details to 087 9711519. 

Don't underestimate the value of your sightings! By mapping occurrences we can gauge how well they are doing and may be able to locate breeding sites which we can then monitor, all of which provides valuable information in the study of this species which has been in steady decline in Ireland in recent years.

Male Kestrel (Mark Carmody).

Kestrel nest box high in a Sitka Spruce, now occupied by nesting Kestrels, near Camp, Co. Kerry, May 2014 (M.O'Clery).

With a number of Kestrel nest boxes in Kerry now occupied, we hope to continue and expand on the provision and monitoring of nest boxes this year. They are proving to be very attractive to nesting Kestrels. See how to make them and where to put them HERE.

Storms and poor breeding season take a toll on Long-eared Owls

Woodland, with Long-eared Owl nest in a tree in the middle distance, near Newmarket, Co. Cork, May 2012 (All photos: M.O'Clery).

And the same spot after the February 2014 storm...

This woodland near Newmarket in Co. Cork has taken a devastating blow from the major storm in mid-February. The Long-eared Owl nest (pictured below), which was discovered during fieldwork for the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project in 2012, is no more. The area of woodland in which it was found was virtually flattened by the hurricane force winds, and while the actual tree in which the nest was found is still standing, all traces of the large stick nest have gone - blown out of the tree along with many of the surrounding smaller branches.

This site was also notable for several other Long-eared Owls being present simultaneously, with two males and two females calling in close proximity in spring 2012, and one male and two females in 2013. Alas, after resurveying this area a few nights ago, no owls were heard.

Other surveyors around Ireland have been visiting known sites and, while outside the SW most nests and nest trees are still intact, there seems to be no sign so far of any nesting Long-eareds. Time will tell, but at this early stage in the breeding season it looks like nesting Long-eared Owl numbers are going to be well down on previous years.

The Long-eared Owl nest, in spring 2012.

Numbers of recruits to the Long-eared Owl population are likely to be few, following a record poor breeding season last year, caused by an extremely cold spring. For more on that, see this post HERE,

and for more on the former nest site pictured above, see HERE