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.