If you were selling a house in the country, and could claim that you had a resident Barn Owl in the outbuildings, you could probably add many thousands of pounds to the price. What a mysterious bird, it seems. And how few people apart from bird watchers have come across the genuine article more, than a couple of times in a life.
One witness claims only three sightings in many years of angling and idling in many parts of the country. Once was near Kilcarne Bridge at Navan, an other, a long time ago, in a tree lined stretch from Tullamore to Pallas Lake. The third was in the hills above Belfast. It is an unforgettable sight at night. Big, heart shaped face, long, broad wings spread out like trailing shrouds - how many ghost stories owe their origins to this bird. And it is all, you would swear, without a sound. When they do utter, it's a blood curdling shriek. They don't hoot, as other owls do.
From below they seem all white, but their upper parts are a sort of orange brown. Anyway, Birdwatch Ireland, or The Irish Wildbird Conservancy, has a special interest. In the autumn edition of their journal Wings, they have a headline: If You See A Barn Owl, Call Us. They are doing a survey and so far have located almost eighty nest sites. They need much more in formation. Most sightings have come from south of a line drawn from Dublin to Galway. They want more information from north of that.
The general report is that the bird is in decline. The organiser of the survey is Dominic Berridge, Barn Owl Survey Organiser, Rathsitla, Edamstown, County Waterford, phone (054) 40738. He used to play a tape of the shriek down the line if you phoned before 10 a.m., but that's over now, though he is in charge of the operation. What can you do? Send him any information on this or last year. Enquire of anyone who might make sightings: farmers, taxi drivers, vets, anglers, doctors, clergy (this is their list, mind you), gardeners, foresters, milk deliverers, chimney sweeps, Teagasc farm advisors . . . and a few more types. Put up a Barn Owl nest box. Details in the survey leaflet.
If you have land, leave places where mice can live in rough vegetation. Mice and rats form a big cart of the Barn Owl's diet. It you use rat poisons they recommend the safest Warfarin based brands. (Didn't know they were safe.) And tell Dominic Berridge what, environment you saw the bird in.