Tracking Barn Owls: Long-Term Monitoring Efforts in Meath

Birdwatch Ireland Meath in association with Meath County Council organised a workshop around Barn Owl monitoring last Tuesday 10th of June in Meath County Councils Offices in Navan. The workshop aimed to show participants how to identify possible nesting sites or Barn Owl activity in their area. Ben Malone, Biodiversity Officer for Meath County Council started proceedings and highlighted some of the achievements, so far, of both the local branch of Birdwatch Ireland and the county survey conducted in 2023 by Alan McCarthy, Barn Owl Project lead for Birdwatch Ireland, to conserve our Barn Owl population. In addition to this survey work, our branch had been busy over the last few years installing Barn Owl boxes in a number of locations around Meath relative to where Barn Owls had been seen of where the habitat would attract them (no use of rodenticides).

Alan then presented the workshop with the findings of this survey and further information for participants in relation to Barn Owl activity, including locations where these birds have been sighted, their nesting habits, and the types of habitats they prefer. The survey showed where Barn Owls are doing well, (Meath/WestMeath Border) and not so well (South East Meath). The reasons for this vary, but it was pointed out that there has been increased development in the East of Meath particularly around large scale housing and industrial farming.

Alan McCarthy presenting slides on Barn Owl ecology

Once the presentation by Alan finished, we headed a short distance to Dalgan Park where Alan showed participants an example of a Barn Owl nest box, our branch had installed, along with a short walk to view a potential nesting site nearby. During the drive to Dalgan Park we passed by a dead Long Eared Owl on the side of the road just outside of the entrance to the farm. A reminder that traffic is one of the main causes of Barn Owl fatalities.

Barn Owl Nest box with the attendees of the event.

But once in the grounds of Dalgan Park, we were presented with a perfect example of what has been helping Barn Owl numbers recover across the country. A White-Toothed Shrew called during our question-and-answer session towards the end of the event. This non-native species of Shrew is in fact the single biggest reason as to why Barn Owl numbers have been improving across Ireland. Their numbers are currently small in Meath but have been steadily increasing over the last few years. The event ended with all attendees gaining a greater understanding of this amazing bird of prey, the impact we can have on helping recover their numbers and a realisation with the call of a White-Toothed Shrew ringing in our ears, that nature can sometimes find a way to recover itself, all it needs is a helping hand.

If you would like to support Birdwatch Ireland Meaths work on the Barn Owl Conservation please donate via the following link https://birdwatchireland.ie/donations/meathbarnowls/

If you would like to find out more about events and outings with our branch please join our mailing list birdwatchirelandmeath@gmail.com