Wise owl that fell in canal soon recovered from his ordeal

Michael McDonnell and his wife Catherine came a bit closer to nature than usual when a bird splashed into the canal next to them while they were out on their regular walk a couple of weeks ago.

“We were there at the back of the CBS, at around half 10 on Tuesday (two weeks ago today) and we noticed a bird coming flying down, and he just hit the water. We thought maybe it was a sparrow hawk or something like that.

“He was in the water flapping, he was a full-grown bird so we were wary of him, but we reached in and we used a branch to get him to the shore. He was going for us, and we had no gloves or anything like that. Then another man came along and he used his phone to ring John (McCauley, photographer). Anyway, we got him on bank. He was distressed looking at this stage, but John went to pick him up and he handled him well – he was tame enough in the end.”

Michael and John attempted to contact several organisations for help or advice, and even considered taking the bird home, but in the end, they “thought the best thing was to let him off into the wild” as it seemed to have recovered. They took it out to the countryside, and set him down: “He sat there for a while, then he moved and he was gone in a few seconds,” said Michael.

He and his wife returned to the spot the following day and having seen no sign of the owl, hope that it is now doing well. “We didn’t want to leave him on the canal bank or dogs or something would have torn him apart and we were in two minds whether to bring him home to look after him but you wouldn’t know if he’d survive. He has a better chance out in the wild,” said Michael.

The Westmeath Examiner contacted Birdwatch Ireland for information on owls, and received this response.

Oran O’Sullivan, chief operations officer, said: “That’s a nice long-eared owl, a native breeding species and our most widespread owl. Great to hear it got up and about after its ordeal: they are of course normally nocturnal. Check out our website, birdwatchireland.ie, for more information on long-eared owls.”

Asked to speculate on why the owl was out at 10.30am, Oran said: “Perhaps its daytime roost was disturbed by a sudden weather event, we have experienced severe gales here in recent days and a falling tree or branches might have spooked it into a panicky flight?

“They would also attract attentions from Hooded Crows and or Magpies, which could force it down, particularly during daylight hours when the owls would normally be hidden away from predator disturbance.”