Barn Owls and Spitfires
A couple of days ago I had the pleasure of joining Darren Norris (Head of Forestry) and his wonderful wife Sarah at a location near the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex.
We were making a 3rd visit to a nest site in a beautiful sheep shearing barn.
Historically this barn has been very successful BUT it had been 5 years since I last monitored this nest.
Our first visit to this nest was on 22nd june 2024- we saw a female fly fromt he nest as we approached and on climbing a relatively short ladder and squeezed through the beams in the roof I found 3 eggs and a cache of 6 rodents. The eggs were warm and I scuttled down the ladder and we left quickly to allow the female to return and continue brooding the eggs.
Darren and I returned on the 16th July with Sophia Llewelyn (Estate Project Manager- Sustainabilty) again (as expected) an adult flew from the box and on repeating the the ladder climb and beam squeeze I was discombobulated to find 7 eggs…..
As I was coming down the ladder Sophia called out to say she had found a ring. She was clutching the dried out leg of an owl with a ring on it. Even more befuddled I entered the details of the ring into the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) database and waited patiently for the recovery details to come through.
On the 23rd July I recieved an email from the BTO which gave me the details of the recovered ring- the owl (a male) had been ringed by my mentor Barrie Watson in 2012 at Slindon (9km away). The oldest wild barn owl recorded by the BTO was 15 years, 3 months and 21 days (set in 2016). But what a recovery. I am not sure how long that lega nd ring had been there, but had it been there on previous visits we would have noticed it.
I wonder if shortly after egg laying the male of the pair had died (maybe old age ?) and the clutch had failed which might account for the female breeding again with a new mate and laying another 4 eggs.
We will never know, but happily when Darren, Sarah and I returned we found 3 beautiful and healthy looking owlets. They were ringed and aged, then returned to the box so the adults could come in to feed.
A later than expected brood, but as their first clutch failed for whatever reason, they did well to hatch and feed 3 owlets.
Maybe one day we will find out which adults are inhabiting this box.
Initial visit 22nd June
7 eggs found on 16th July (2nd visit)
3 healthy barn owl chicks on 14th August (third visit)
Trip to Slindon with The National Trust
I met up with Katie at the Slindon National Trust office to check four of their owl boxes. It’s been 5 years since I came here and so much has changed. More boxes have been erected and some of the older ones replaced.
It was fabulous to see Katie and catch up on the past 5 years!
In the first barn we checked we flushed a barn owl from the rafters, the box (a new one) is high up on the rafter just below the roof. Sadly we had missed the fledglings this time- the box was half full of shredded pellets and there were a lot of downy feathers/fluff in the box.
The second box we couldn’t get to this time but I will have another go.
The third box we checked was on a huge old tree facing over a field of crops. Again this was a third full of shredded owl pellets but on this occassion we found an adult Stock Dove on 2 eggs. She was ringed and put back.
At the final box we saw a Stock Dove fly from the nest and on peering in I found a Stoick Dove chick (too small to ring) and a warm egg.
Re-kindling friendships
We drove slightly further South, to a beautiful property which borders the Dairy we had previously visited and met up with Mr H and 2 friends of his who had been photographing the owls here for several years.
The majority of the property is re-wilded with grassland, hedges, ditches, ponds and a multitude of owl and kestrel nest boxes.
The first butterfly we saw was a marbled white and around us were yaffling green woodpeckers, a timid roe deer peeped out from the grass, a kestrel flitted around the meadow and a tawny owl surprised us by flying up from one of the ditches.
In other parts of the property are hand built barns and all of the nest boxes are had crafted by Mr H.
Behind the farmhouse are fruit cages brimming with berries, green houses packed with tomatoes, cucumbers and a vegetable patch of true beauty.
Up in a tree covered in ivy high above a deep ditch is a barn owl box, Mr H had seen 2 young owls branching out amongst the ivy.
I clambered up grateful of branches and ivy to cling onto at the top as I reached into the darkness of the box. Two owls successfully in their bags I reached a little further to check the corners of the box and felt another warm feathery chick hiding.
The youngsters were ringed, weighed and measured and swifly returned to their lofty box to settle back down and wait for their parents to bring in some voles or mice.
On our way out Mr H came over with a bucket of goodies from the garden and we promised to return next year.
Visit to the Dairy south of Chichester
Female Barn Owl (approximately 60 days old)
Saturday morning started with a 40 minute journey over to a site I monitored previously with Barrie Watson. My husband was keen for a road trip and to see the farm I was so fond of. We arrived at the farm and were met by Chris (farmer).
It has been 5 years since I last monitored this beautiful dairy farm and although much has stayed the same, a good deal has improved regarding Barn Owl and Kestrel habitat.
Chris and his team have been busy putting up boxes and have huge areas of set-a-side.
We found one adult barn owl roosting in one end of the barn and at the other end under the box was a huge pile of pellets and white wash everywhere. Unfortunately we could not reach these boxes even with the 3 section ladder.
We checked a kestrel box on the end of the new barn and found 3 warm Stock Dove eggs.
The box in the old grain store (which had owls about 10 years ago) had evidence of pellets underneath but feral pigeons had since moved in.
There are more boxes to check here but before we went to our next farm we checked in on an old dairy building which always used to have Barn Owls. The previous tenant had advised me that the roof had been taken off earlier in the year due to asbestos. I was concerned as the box is a tea chest affair with a baffle but is thinish ply wood and not designed as an outside box.
As we approached, an owl flew from the entrance to the box. We put the ladders up and found a young female inside who was about 1 week off fledging (see above).
We aim to return in the next few weeks to finish off the other boxes on the farm and to pain the box with linseed oil to water proof it and put a felt roof on the box.
A trip to Ebernoe
I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by Natalie Evans the Principal Ecologist and Bat Licence Lead for Arbtech Consulting (arbtech.co.uk) asking if I could take a look at a barn where there were barns owls nesting. The barn needed a new roof and was crumbling further by the day.
I first monitored this barn with my mentor Barrie Watson back in 2010 and had fond memories of lugging ladders etc to the barn from the footpath above down to the barn.
There is a tea chest in the corner of the barn with a “door” beyond a baffle which the owls can fly straight out of out into the meadow below.
It’s a stunning barn and location.
Today the barn looks sad and in desperate need of attention . The roofers and scafolding company are on standby and now Nat and I have done our surverys and visits as soon as Natural England give the go ahead the work can start.
The Common Pipistrelle bats will be relocated by Nat as the roof comes off.
Fortunately all the chicks have fledged from the box (which is in the better side of the barn) so there is no risk to the nesting owls. Two or three more owl boxes will be sited around the meadows surrounding the box to allow dispersal and for the owls to shelter in while works are being done on the roof. thankfully the box in the barn will remain there too so the owls will have lots of options.
Congratulations to Michael Nailard
Warmest congratulations to my trainee Michael Nailard of the Woodland Flora and Fauna Group based near Hurstpierpoint for receiving his C permit from the British Trust for Ornithology for barn owl ringing. This means he can now ring barn owls independently. Michael manages a huge section of mid Sussex and has a wonderful team of volunteers.
You can find out more about them and the work they do here: https://thewoodlandfloraandfaunagroup.org.uk/
“I have a clumsy flying owl in the paddock …”
FIRST BROOD OF 2024 !
A landowner near Chichester, West Sussex gave me a call and asked if I could check his owl box as he thought he’d seen a young barn owl flying around the paddock.
I agreed to go but wondered if he was mistaken as it seemed a little early in the season.
The ladder was set and the box is a tricky on as it has no inspection hatch and you have to reach through the front of the box and over a baffle. I put my phone inside took a photograph and realised there was more than one owl!
A wonderful clutch of 5 were hiding in the front section of the box- two owls had been out of the box exploring in the wet grass (they had clean feet).
The clutch was comprised of 3 females (spotty chest/flanks and tan necklace) and 2 males (white chested no spots).
All were ringed and leasured and put back in their nesting box much to the delight of the landowner and his grand-daughter.
I look forward to visiting again next year and hope he has installed a side viewing hatch.