A lockdown conservation project to build nest boxes for barn owls has begun to reap dividends, according to BirdWatch Ireland.
Approximately 255 chicks have been ringed so far this year nationally, 50 of the newborns in Co Cork.
BirdWatch Ireland said it is monitoring more than 200 breeding pairs at active nest sites across the country.
The conservation group said projects like one funded by Cork County Council mean the notoriously shy predator is finally making a comeback.
Eight months ago, BirdWatch Ireland volunteer Alan McCarthy, a PhD student at University College Cork, installed the first of 15 barn owl nest boxes he built at home during the second lockdown late last year.
It was installed last December at Ballindenisk farm on the outskirts of Cork city with the support of the Fell family.
The hope was that it might attract a breeding pair, which it did.
Two of three chicks born eight weeks ago have survived and are thriving, said Alan, who visited them to weigh and measure them under licence from the National Parks & Wildlife Service.
He said: "Around 50% of the nest boxes that we've installed have been occupied by barn owls, which is absolutely fantastic.
"This nest box we installed in December last year and normally it takes quite a few years for barn owl nest boxes to become occupied, so we were very surprised when we discovered that this box already had a family of barn owls in it.
"Without the nest box, barn owls wouldn't be nesting here so it just goes to show the importance of the nest boxes and how beneficial they can be throughout the country."
BirdWatch Ireland said it has been a mixed year for birds this year given the bad weather in April and May.
However, it did find a lot of new sites across the country, particularly in counties Kilkenny, Offaly and Westmeath, as well as Wexford and Waterford.
Her sibling - who is also about two month old - was very patient as he was weighed and measured under license from @npwsBioData as part of a monitoring programme sponsored by @Corkcoco pic.twitter.com/ZJQNKN425j
— JennïeØSullivân (@OSullivanJennie) August 18, 2021
Cork County Council sponsored the lockdown nest box project and said the results were great news.
Ecologist Sharon Casey said you can see what very simple interventions can do and what a difference they can make.
"The reaction has been very positive and we are hoping to fund the construction and deployment of more nest boxes and more monitoring next year," she said.
