Snowy eagles may be abandoned once the 'Hedwig' factor wears off, but birds of prey can find sanctuary in Sligo. Lorna Siggins reports
JK Rowling has a lot to answer for. Months after the release of the first Harry Potter film, the first of many abandoned snowy owls found its way to a bird sanctuary. The wise, winged "postman" in the plot had spawned a craze - similar to the Christmas puppy syndrome, and the fillip Finding Nemo gave to the market in exotic fish.
Fortunately for this owl, it has been given a good home in Ballymote, Co Sligo, where Lothar and Regina Muschketat, their daughter Sarah and son Alexander run the Irish Raptor Research Centre, also known as "Eagles Flying". "It even has snow boots," Regina explains to visitors, introducing the "old man", who is more than 25 years old.
Owls, buzzards, eagles, vultures, hawks, falcons - all are accommodated at the centre, which was opened to the public by the Muschketats just under a year ago. Both biologists, the couple moved to south Sligo in 1999. Both had been involved in research - Regina was also a teacher for a time - and their son had worked at a centre for raptors, or predatory birds.
The Sligo Enterprise Board and Sligo Leader have given some funding, but more than 95 per cent of the financial input is their own. Twice a day, they run an "Eagles Flying" display which allows visitors to witness the hunting abilities of the birds of prey. On a recent visit, we were greeted on the Muschketats' front lawn by more than half a dozen species - many of them no longer seen in Ireland - chained to their perches.
After a short introduction, visitors are shown to outdoor benches to watch a spectacular air show, lasting about 60 minutes. To whistling and cries of "hup", a five-year old laggar falcon displays his speed and prowess as Alexander swings a dead "lure". The young bird had been injured on the Continent, but seems to have made a perfect recovery as it whistles over our shoulders to Regina, returning with similar speed to Alexander's gloved fist. It kills with its beak, rather than its talons, we're told, and cleverly spreads its wings over the prey when secured.
A harris hawk, which frequents North American deserts, arouses some commotion among the caged birds when it is carried out. Hawks are the most popular bird among Ireland's small group of trained falconers, and their diet ranges from mice to rabbits to pheasants. It hunts with similar cunning, and is followed by a four-year-old male black-chested eagle named Pisco, which likes to circle over its prey in the wild and then glide down to consume rats, guinea pigs and birds.
Pisco is particularly clever. Most of the birds have bells and radio transmitter tags, but he opened his tag last year before flying away. "He was gone for a week: he knew we wouldn't be able to track him, and then he returned to us," Regina says with a contented smile.
Other birds participating in the flying demonstration include Lima, a female black-chested eagle, Rajah, a Bengal eagle-owl, a Steppe eagle similar to the golden eagles once common here and now being re-introduced in Donegal, a kestrel and a bald eagle. Among the caged birds are a common buzzard - extinct here for the past century, but returning to Northern Ireland now from Scotland - as well as striated caracaras, which are native to the Falklands, ferruginous hawks, and Himalayan and Turkey vultures. There's also a pair of European eagle owls, along with the aforementioned snowy cousin.
During our visit, the bald eagle was off earning his keep at a show in Strandhill. The majority of the birds at Ballymote have been bred in captivity, but some injured birds of various pedigree have also found their way there. A long-eared owl chick which fell out of its nest was taken to the Muschketats by a Gurteen farmer, Tommy Gaffney, in May. He hadn't been able to return the chick to the inaccessible nest and had feared it might become dinner for a fox. Since then, it has thrived with a lot of tender loving care in the Muschketats' kitchen.
"We also have a young kestrel, brought in a few days ago, and a peregrine falcon with a broken wing," Regina says. When its wing is sufficiently strong, it may be trained under a schedule which lasts about three months - with two months spent on the "fist" and one month feeding or catching bait. The big challenge for the birds is familiarisation with humans, she says - their innate fear being due to centuries of hunting which led, eventually, to extinction here.
In fact, the sorry tale of Ireland's lost birds has been documented recently by Clare-based ornithologist and artist, Gordon D'Arcy. Woodland clearance, wetland drainage, changes in agriculture practice, and hunting and persecution have all played their part in the gradual disappearance of birds such as the bittern, red kite, white-tailed (sea) and golden eagle, marsh harrier, osprey, goshawk, crane, capercaillie, great auk and great-spotted woodpecker.
The corncrake has also declined dramatically since D'Arcy began researching his book 20 years ago. However, he writes, the disappearance of eagles represents "the single most significant loss in our birdlife, probably since the coming of man to Ireland" - in terms of both ecology and of the mark it left on art and literature over decades, dating from the references in early Christian poetry and the illuminated manuscripts of the "golden age" of Celtic art. That's why the Golden Eagle project in Donegal is so important - and is already yielding interesting results, with sightings reported as far south as Kerry.
The Muschketats stress that they don't train birds to hunt, but provide a sanctuary for them.
• The Irish Raptor Research Centre centre is open from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. daily until the end of November. Flying demonstrations are at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Admission 7 for adults and 4 for children. Tel: 087-2110538 or www.eaglesflying.com
Ireland's Lost Birds by Gordon D'Arcy is published by Four Courts Press, supported by The Heritage Council.
