Roscommon Birdwatch Talk in Lecarrow

First off I would like to thank Padraig Corcoran for arranging the talk and the outing on the following Sunday. I must also thank the committee of lecarrow community hall for allowing us to use their excellent facility.

Dave Watson gave a very interesting talk on Barn Owls, Kestrels and other overwintering birds.

One of Dave’s projects is the Barn Owl and he looks after over 120 nesting sites around the country. He showed some extrondairy film footage of the Owls that he has collected over time and explained their habitat, diet and distribution. Like many birds of prey they are susceptible to the poisons we use to control rodents. The strange thing is if we enabled the Owl population to increase we would require less poison. A pair of Owls and chicks will control the rodent population far more efficiently and look far better than any traps or poisons we might use. Anything we can do to help the redistribution of the Barn Owl would be a great help. If you have an old building on your site or know of one in the locality, maybe a Barn Owl box might be installed. If you have spotted Barn Owls in the area and have an idea as to where they are nesting email us and we will pass the information on to Dave.

Dave would also like information on any Kestrels you might see. This is needless to say another project he is working on. On behalf of myself and Roscommon Birdwatch I would like to Dave for his efforts in enlightening us on some of the more interesting facts of our avian population. I must say however that for my own part there is a LONG way to go.