More Nature Day photos!

Thanks to Jane for these photos from the day - if you took any you'd like to share, please send them over! 

Tas and Dan on the hunt for macroinvertebrates

A very, very excited Thomas :)

Virge, Vivi, Me and Rohan

Rose and Liszu

The Bird Hide - BioBlitz HQ!

Species lists: insects, lichens, herbs, grasses, fungi, birds, trees, mammals

Here's what we found! I'm going to do up proper lists and then go through each species one by one and do a blog post on them - their ecology, folklore and cultural history, edibility, medicinal properties, etc. Should keep me busy for a while...

River Field Nature Day 2016

On June 4th, over 100 of our nearest and dearest joined us in the River Field for a nature day. The idea was to identify as many species of plant, animal and fungi as possible over the course of the afternoon, record them, figure out what's interesting and/or unique, and submit everything to the National Biodiversity Data Centre so we can contribute to the national effort to improve our knowledge of Ireland's biodiversity. The whole thing was inspired by the 'BioBlitz' initiative, which brings communities and scientists together to do something similar, except over a 24 hour period.

Naturally enough, we went to town and turned it into a bit of a party with straw bale seating, bunting, new signs, a freshly-mown willow maze, a brand new compost toilet, lanterns, bonfire, etc.

Straw bale seating and handmade bunting

The entrance to the Willow Maze...

...leading to this at the centre

Our new compost loo

The Roundhouse

Here are some photos from the day itself. Species lists to follow!

Duncan, Valerie, Paul Dowding, Mum Yvonne and Shane identifying grasses

Paul Dowdling identifying butterfly larvae

Pay and Mary Durkin's group identifying birds by their song

More birdsong identification

...and some more!

The entomologists arrive! Jane and Eileen come armed with butterfly nets and pots

Virge and Vivi inspecting the insects

Compiling the lists

Getting up close and personal with the insects

Eileen, puzzled! 

Two wonderful wildlife detectives, Isabel and Caoimhe

The owls make an appearance on May Day

We were enjoying our May Day Sunday lunch when a small white dot appeared at the entrance to the owl house, which is visible from our dining table. Shoving aside the roast potatoes, we quickly set up the photography equipment. Tech spec: coffee table, telescope, camera on a tripod and two paperback books that are just the right thickness.

Our equipment. Note the entrance hole to the owl box in the camera viewing pane

We haven't seen the owls since Christmas Eve so it was great to know that they're still there. It's egg laying season and we have our fingers crossed for another clutch of babies. Maybe this one was poking its head out in the day time because things are just too cramped below deck in the nesting area? Or maybe it's just a bit stinky inside? We saw lots of flies coming out... and barn owls are known for their squalid living arrangements.

The long view: see the little white dot?

We took it in turns to man the camera and, after 1 hr and 30 minutes of neck cramps and zoom fiddling, this little white face was the result.

Owl update

Our three baby owlets are all grown up, out in the world, catching their own dinner, roosting in their own trees, generally being proper grown up owls. There have been a few sightings in nearby locations, but in truth we'll never know exactly where they went.

They dispersed at the end of July. Over the course of four weeks, we watched them emerge from the nest, learn to fly, learn to hunt, get stronger and take off on their own. Since then, it's been kind of quiet - no little owly faces poking out of the nest box by day when they should be asleep, no night time screeching, not even any pellets.

There have been some signs of life, though. I saw what I think was a female twice, I've found female feathers near the nest, and spotted plenty of distinctive chalky-white runny owl poo underneath what could only be described as 5* roosting locations beside the river.

Owl poo on an ash sapling, underneath a popular roosting spot in a riverside willow

Despite expressions of doubt from the experts at Birdwatch Ireland, I have been holding out hope that the mum (Francie) is sitting on a second clutch. That could explain why the first clutch dispersed so quickly (i.e. some new babies hatched, no room at the inn for the adolescents, get out and fend for yourselves, etc).

I got quite excited last sunday when I spotted a smaller-than-adult and sort of owl-shaped bird sitting on the nest box's 'veranda', but on closer inspection it turned out to be a kestrel. Which is also quite cool, but not as cool as an owlet.

Conservation - it's all about people, really

One of best things I learned from our summer owl experience was that community conservation is as much about people as it is about nature. I can't count the number of locals who stopped me in the road to enquire about the new residents, the number of excited text messages and emails I received, the flurry of visits from friends old and new all eager to catch a glimpse of the babies learning to fly and hunt, the near constant requests for new photos and updates on this blog, the donations of colourful owl drawings from children... More often than not, I'd arrive home in the evening to find at least one person camped out in my driveway with a pair of binoculars!

Neighbours I never knew had even the slightest interest in wildlife were telling me how they'd been out watching the owls every night and shared details they'd observed of their daily habits. Farmers - often assumed to be skeptical of all things 'birds and bees' - were genuinely delighted, and many pledged to erect their own nest boxes to accommodate this family's offspring. It was a revelation. I was so heartened to see how these beautiful creatures could connect and inspire so many local people.
                                               
                                      

Though I regret not taking as many as I could have done, these photos give some insight into the fun we had with pellets and binoculars and my mum's telescope, the latter of which facilitated 'civilised' bird watching from the comfort of our dining room (with gin and tonics, of course).

                            

Oh what a night...

On Friday, Ken Kinsella took these amazing up-close photos of our owls from a temporary hide he erected in the field. "Friday evening was very bright and ensconced in my little hide I waited until 10pm before the first BO appeared," he said. "It immediately flew away followed by the others in rapid order; an indication of the chicks' maturity."

This is the adult female, Francie

So it seems that our little owlets are growing up! It's all happening so fast. Two weeks ago they were only just emerging from the nest. Last week we watched them learn how to hunt. And now, they're fledged! Last night, we went down the river at about 11pm and hid under a beech tree as the owls flew up and down the meadow, hunting. We could hear them screeching - a haunting and almost violent sound, it's no mystery that these birds are associated with death and the darkness in folklore. Watching them glide above us so silently was incredible.

We expect them to continue to return to the nest for a few weeks yet as they get used to life on their own, but there's a chance that the mum has laid a second clutch. If so, she'll chase this lot away from the nest when the new babies hatch so we'll be keeping an eye out for that behaviour in the coming weeks.

In other news, last night we invented a new cocktail that we've named 'Francie's Parliament' in honour of the mama owl. Here's the recipe:

Take a big jug and put in...

Loads of ice

Two pear ice lollies

Loads of frozen raspberries

Elderflower cordial (homemade)

Gin

Fizzy water (or Prosecco if you're on a mission)

Swish it about a bit and enjoy!

Trail camera in action!

Our motion-sensor trail camera (also funded by the Veolia Environment Community Fund) has come into its own this week and captured some truly ghostly images of our owls.

    

See the creepy eyes in the background?*

 

I think this is an 'in for the kill' shot: look at the legs shooting down!

   

Just landed (NB This shot was taken before I set the date and time properly on the camera)

*Sadly I think the creepy eyes are actually the upstairs lights in Caroline and Ivan's house :(

It's a family of five. FIVE!!!!

See? Mum, Dad and three babies. I took this photo hunkered down among the oats (sorry Mr Reilly, I stuck to the tracks I swear).

Update: I've been thinking about names. The collective noun for owls is a 'parliament', so it seems only right to name the dad George (after George Clinton). My dad used to tell stories about Francie the owl when I was little, so that's what we'll call the mum. As for the chicks, last night I was introduced to the story of 'Owl Babies' and, seeing as the three chicks are steps and stairs just like the characters in the story, we'll call them (from biggest to smallest) Sarah, Percy and Bill. 

Barn Owls: are you ready for your close up?

Thanks to Ken Kinsella for his sensitive photographing of our beautiful Barn Owls last night. Here are some of his pictures:

Mum (Francie) on the right, chick (as yet unnamed) on the left. At the moment we're not sure if the third bird we saw on Friday night is the Dad or another chick. It's quite dark by the time they emerge from the nest so very hard to tell who's who. We'll keep trying to figure it out and report back as soon as possible!

No, wait, it's three

At least three. We definitely saw three. We *may* have seen four, but we're not certain. We only got photos of two at a time, though. What we assume to be the mum and dad came out first and flew up into the trees, leaving the juvenile (again, assuming this) to sit on the ledge and practice his/her wing-flapping.

Here are the best photos so far:

Two!

Two-it Two (sorry I couldn't resist)

A little owly face

Looks like a fluffy juvenile, right? Or maybe he's just shaking his tail feather

Little owly face again

A perfect profile

...and the best til last :)

Thanks to Lyn and Mike for coming down and patiently waiting to take these shots. I think we need a parparazzo lens though to really get the detail in low light. Any volunteers?