It's Owl-faly County Council, as owl pair pay a visit to Tullamore offices

The work being done at Offaly County Council's Aras an Chontae offices in Tullamore attracted the interest of an unusual duo when a pair of long-eared owl fledglings began appearing on its grounds in recent weeks.

The birds are nocturnal, so council staff were surprised and delighted by a rare daytime sighting of one of them outside the premises on Charleville Road on Monday of this week.

"Some of the staff on the third floor were having a meeting on Monday, when all of a sudden they noticed these orange eyes looking in at them!" council biodiversity officer, Ricky Whelan, told the Offaly Independent.

Local wildlife photographer Dan Singer was contacted, and arrived in time to get an excellent photo of the owl in one of the mature trees situated next to the council offices.

The local authority also shared news of the sighting on social media, tweeting: "What a hoot! Did you know a collection of owls is called a parliament? Great to see this owl was waiting for his 'political colleagues' in the gardens of your council."

Ricky Whelan explained that the long-eared owl is Ireland's most common breeding owl species and is well-distributed across the lowlands of the country. They often nest in old crow's nests in large, mature conifer trees.

He explained that they have a distinctive "high-pitched squeaky call" which is not dissimilar to the sound of a rusty gate being opened.

The birds' presence on the grounds of Aras an Chontae had first been noticed by a birdwatcher living nearby who had heard their call and then spotted them on the local authority's grounds after nightfall.

"We were all very excited to find out that they had been here, but we never thought we would get to see them during the daytime," said Ricky.

He estimates that the local owl pair are approximately six weeks old.

While they are not often found in such an urban environment, they weren't the only lesser-spotted avian visitors to the council offices, as a woodpecker was recently seen on the grounds of Aras an Chontae also.