In Lipnice near Spáleného Poříčí, an awareness event for the public was held on Saturday, April 27, in support of the rare barn owl Athene noctua in the Pilsen region. An interesting morning was prepared by the implementation team of the project: “Protection of the common owl (Athene noctua) in the Czech-Bavarian borderland” financed by the INTERREG Bavaria-Czech Republic 2021-2027 Program in cooperation with the Zoological and Botanical Garden of the City of Pilsen. The aim of the international project, of which the Pilsen Region is an important partner, is the protection of the last free-living population of the common buzzard in the Pilsen Region, the creation of a new population of buzzards on both sides of the border by the method of appropriately set repatriation, and a number of research tasks related to the practical protection of buzzards. The leading partner is ČZU in Prague, outside of the Pilsen region, the other Czech partner is the Czech Defenders’ Union in Spálené Poříčí, on the Bavarian side, the partner is LBV Cham.
Against the backdrop of beautiful spring weather, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., a drawing competition for the prettiest little boy was prepared especially for children, a knowledge contest about little boys on several panels set up in the village, a test of knowledge in identifying different skulls, feathers, or models of birds. At the stand of the Czech University of Life Sciences, everyone could try out how to track birds using a short-wave radio, the staff of the ČSOP Spálená Poříčí willingly explained how the owls behave in nature, what makes them special, what a proper nesting box looks like, and demonstrated how the owls call. The Zoologist of the Regional Office of the Plzeň Region introduced the visitors to the results of the project of returning the sables back to our nature in a projected presentation, ending with a short video documentary. The village of Lipnice was not chosen by chance, it is one of the places around Spáleného Poříčí where, thanks to cooperation with the very helpful owners of suitable properties, eagle owls have been released and carefully monitored for several years. Several of the released birds in the area already repeatedly nest in the wild. The whole event was carefully prepared thanks to the staff of the Zoological and Botanical Garden of the city of Pilsen, which is an indispensable partner in the project to save the common owl, but also in other projects to protect the animals and plants of the Czech nature. ZOO Plzeň, Plzeň Region and ČSOP Spálené Poříčí also donated valuable prizes for the best competitors on Saturday afternoon. The good mood of around 100 participants of the Nesýčkuj a prijď event was also due in no small measure to the Lipnice volunteer firemen’s association, which provided the team with facilities in its area and took care of refreshments of all kinds.
In conclusion, the team members asked all participants for cooperation in detecting the possible further occurrence of eagle owls in their surroundings, they explained how it is possible to help them survive, for example by securing various technical traps, where eagle owls and other birds often die.
If you are also interested in helping this rare owl or getting more information, please contact the following contacts, where you can also report any information about owl sightings
WhatsApp: Athene Noctua Interreg CZ
e-mail: porici@ekocentrum, [email protected]
