Declan has his Ear to the Ground with bird book

A KINVARA boy, who gained countrywide admiration when he wrote, illustrated and published his first book, returns to the national stage this week when he appears on Ear to the Ground.

Declan Cairney is no stranger to television cameras. After his book, Raptors: A Pocket Guide to Birds of Prey and Owls, came out last March he travelled to Dublin and appeared on shows on RTÉ and TV3. This time, however, the crew came to him.

“It was fun. It was different. The other times I was in the studios but this was kind of weird with cameras and microphones following me around at the Birds of Prey Centre,” Declan said.

Dublin-born Declan moved to Kinvara when he was six and for the last two years he has volunteered at the Aillwee Caves Birds of Prey Centre.

“The cameras didn’t bother the birds, I don’t think. During the show, one of the owls was very intrigued by the wind sock on the microphone. He kept looking at it and wouldn’t move because he didn’t know what it was. Other than that, I think they were all ok,” he said.

“When the cameras were there, I pretended it was an ordinary day. I cleaned some of the aviaries, then they watched me handling some of the birds to bring them out and put them on show.

“Then they filmed the birds of prey centre without me in it. Then when I came home, the crew came here and asked me questions about my normal life and what I do outside of the birds of prey centre. Then they asked me about the book,” Declan added.

It is nearly a year since the sixth-class pupil in Northampton National School launched the book and since then, he has been busy.

“I am in the birds of prey centre on Saturdays and over the holidays maybe once or twice a week, spending the day, helping out. I have no plans for a new book yet. I don’t think people realise how much work is actually involved in it. It didn’t take too long to write or draw the pictures but getting the right publisher and dealing with the business side of things was the hardest part,” he explained.

Declan is happy with the sales of the book so far but noted the majority of the sales were in the months immediately after its launch. His appearance on Ear to the Ground this week will generate some more sales, he believes.

“Most of the sales go on when I am at the birds of prey centre more. During the winter, I have soccer and school and all that, so I don’t have much time to be there. I have sold about 800 to 850 copies so far and most of that was between March and the end of summer 2012.

“I haven’t sold many since then but the other two times I was on the television, there was a spike in the sales, not at the centre but online and in different shops,” Declan explained.

Ear to the Ground will be broadcast this Thursday at 8.30pm on RTÉ 1.