Cabragh Wetlands: The barn owl - will it survive?

All roads lead to Holycross on Easter Monday night when the Commemorative Tribute to the War of Independence concert takes place.

The brainchild of Una Crowe, the evening will feature the music song and dance of the period. Performed by local artistes, it recalls the part played by Tipperary and indeed communities like Holycross in the achievement of freedom. The paths of freedom at the time often led from Cabragh, via the Yellow Lough to Holycross although memorials on the Cormackstown Road or on the very bridge at Holycross speak of life journeys cut tragically short in that polarised time.

Roads have led to Holycross for centuries and whether they are those of the monk returning from England with the piece of the True Cross down Bóthar na Croise or the pilgrim walk from Thurles next Saturday, they all traverse a landscape much changed over the centuries but still a source of immense pride where Cabragh Wetlands, the sole beneficiary of the musical evening, stands proudly with the ancient Abbey walls as a testament to the vigour and achievement of this community.
Not only have humans left an indelible mark on the character of the landscape but the barn owl, hewn in stone on the abbey wall, continues its uninterrupted journey down the ages in the quartered fields of the parish.

For us at Cabragh, the big question is, will it survive? That survival depends to a very large extent on what they eat. An adult barn owl will typically consume three to four small mammals a night but when young are in the nest, over twenty five have been delivered to the nest per night. If rats are caught a distance from the nest they are often decapitated and brought home. The list of remains found in owl pellets indicate the diet.

Two pellets are coughed up every twenty four hours containing the fur and bones of prey items as they have a low acid content in their stomachs which isn’t sufficient to break down all parts of their prey. The main items are pygmy shrew, great white-toothed shrew, house mouse, wood mouse, bank vole, brown rat, birds, bats and frogs. There may be a link with the availability of this prey, particularly the white toothed shrew which was first discovered in owl pellets in Tipperary in 2008, and the survival of the species.

The barn owl’s year begins with courtship as early as January with high speed loud courtship flights around the nest site. From March onwards, the male will present prey to the female at the nest with increasing frequency.

After mating, the female will become less active and cease to hunt and more or less remain in the nest for the next two months. The first eggs are usually laid in late April or May and the female will force the male to leave the nest. Four to six eggs are usually laid, three to four days apart. The young are tiny and blind and have virtually no feathers. The food brought by the male is torn up by the female and fed to the chicks and half way through their development, the chicks may even be heavier than the adults. As they develop, they flap their wings, pounce on imaginary prey and begin to focus on the nest opening.
After 55-60 days, they make their first move. We have been fortunate in Cabragh to be able to observe this moment of entry into the outdoor world. Eventually, they will disperse but mortality is very high, up to 80% over the first few months.

Where do they go? From ringing we know that some don’t travel while others go as far as 120 km. One young owlet, ringed as a chick on the border of Offaly / Tipperary ended up in a castle in Galway while one ringed in Tralee ended up just 1 km across the bay.

What can we do for barn owl conservation? The fate of the barn owl is inextricably linked to farming practice. Rough grassland is one of the best habitats particularly if it is not grazed or mown and crucially has a good litter layer for small mammals. Limiting the use of rat poison is crucial and if must, always have a planned approach with enough bait points and collection and disposal of rodent bodies. With regard to nesting, try to avoid disturbance. Nest boxes can help but be patient, it can be several years before an owl might find use for them.

See you all in Holycross Hall on Easter Monday night. Details from Mairead at 086 2122456.
Slán go fóill.