Wildlife UK Forum - Discuss the UK countryside and wildlife

i work in scottish borders on study on barn owls found some amazing info out of just the 1st year of the study! i have ringed over 100 barn owls adults and chicks! and i have 170 nest sites with either natural site or nest boxes that i build!

it is wonderful to have this amount of barn owls in our area the vole population has been good this year so clutch size has been about 3!

i had a adult female in a new site i got giving on friday she had a BTO ring on her so from this i tracked down the person who ringed it who happen to be guy that gave me nest site! but found out she is 8year old now which is amazing i find for age of a wild barn owl. She bred chicks every year had seens to be in great shape this year so lets all hope she makes it to next year!!

i work full time on my barn owl study (not getting paid for it) just doing it as barn owls are so great birds and wonderful hunters which all farmers and local people seem to love! and i get the chance to take some wonderful pictures of these birds!

deergirl

you are very lucky to be working closely with Barn owls fascinating species to watch hunt, my parents live in Lincolnshire and they are surrounded by them, the locals and farmers do the same there, nest boxes all over the place for the Owls

Very jealous of you getting such privileged access to them for photographs though <humph>

it is lucky job i have! just been out again today checking more got 5 more sites and caught a young male chick! so number now 103 ringed!

great photo most of mine are me holding the bird! got some great photos of myself at osprey ringing of chicks that day i will never forget!

deergirl

It sounds interesting, well i also wish to do the same but yet don't get any such oppurtunity

I'll go along with IanC_UK when he said his parents live in Lincolnshire and are surrounded by them - I'll second that as I live in Lincolnshire too and see absolutely loads.

Where abouts do your parents live IanC, am interested.

Yogi.

Here in Suffolk I've seen barn owls more frequently in recent years, but I suspect that's largely due to set-aside. Now that's rapidly disappearing the owl population may go into decline. I don't know which areas of Lincolnshire were being referred to above.
Alan

My parents live in Spalding, but wherever i drive in Lincs, at the right time of the evening, i see Barn Owls everywhere They also have a visiting Tawny in the garden !

Just sent you a PM Ian

Here's a photo I took of the Barn Owl not far from my home in Summer 2007.




Yogi.

great picture!

What a lovely photo

Lucky you Deergirl - what a wonderful thing to be involved with I've not seen a Barn Owl for a long time - I saw them regularly when I lived in Norfolk and I've seen them on occasions in Lancashire when driving over the moors.

I often hear an owl hooting in the evenings here - I think it must be a Little Owl, but I've not seen it.

Ah, that'll be a Tawny Owl Cheryl, Little Owl's screetch.

Yogi.

A Tawny Owl - I didn't think that, I've always thought of them being quite elusive - I hope it it is one. It goes tu-wit or maybe te-wit a bit high pitched and it goes up at the end.

thats a female Tawny Owl Cheryl, the female makes the te-whit sound, the male makes the tu-whoooo sound

Sounds on here http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguid.../index.asp

tawnys are great owls as well tho, kielder has great study on them, barn owls are slightly more friendly when at nest box! tawnys will attack as i found out!! i am trying get breeding little owls in scottish borders had few sightings but no success with nest boxes yet, also putting up baskets for Long eared and found couple nests of short eared, and has sighting of eagle owl. but i start ravens in couple months, then peregrines, then goshawks, then ospreys, then 200 barn owls sites! it is great job just wish was paid