Barn Owls (1 Viewer)

Richard W · Jun 22, 2005

went to check on the Barn Owls at work earlier, all 4 chicks were out of the box and flying (clumsily) around the open barn.

youngest with just a small amount of down spent most of the time flapping around a very spikey bit of farm machinery :eek!: but was able to make short flights.

plenty of places to keep them well off the ground so keeping everything crossed they'll be safe for a few more days.

at one point dad arrived with a vole and had 5 Barn Owls sat within a few yards of each other! wonderful sight o

o

4 is the most successful nest we've had here, am sure the good weather has helped, hoping for a second brood.

pianoman · Jun 22, 2005

Wow Richard, what a triumph, speaking as someone who's seen Barn Owls only as ghostly sillhouettes in the distance.

Would love to know more about the box and its situation. Is an open-fronted barn essential?

Andrew

brianfm · Jun 22, 2005

Must have been a great sight Richard. Hope you keep us up to date.

Richard W · Jun 22, 2005

Would love to know more about the box and its situation. Is an open-fronted barn essential?

they've used A-frame boxes on trees for many years then moved into the box in the open barn 2 yrs ago, is mounted right in the top of the roof so is quiet and very sheltered.

as long the box is secure and not exposed to the worst of the weather the location (tree or building) doesn't seem too critical, if they're around is well worth putting up a box or two (mine are all in pairs fairly close together as they wont have a second brood in the same box).

Richard W · Jun 25, 2005

all doing well, spent about an hour watching them last night, very amusing as they obviously hadn't enountered rain before, 3 were flying on to the roof above the box through a missing roof panel and doing a lot of comedy head bobbing and flapping.

the youngest doesn't look like it's able to get back to the box but is roosting well above the ground & making short flights in the barn. Others were more adventurous and going outside, fly well but landings need some work, mostly crashing into Hawthorns with wings outstreched.

adult was landing further and further away with food and calling them over,

Steve G · Jun 25, 2005

Hi Richard,
Forgive my stupidity but do your Barn Owls sometimes attempt a second brood?

Richard W · Jun 25, 2005

yes but only once successfully in the 5/6 yrs that they've been nesting here, and one of the second brood of 3 didn't make it.

this year they're very early so looks promising, put up another box nearby a few weeks ago, having two boxes close to each other seems to work well.

haven't seen the female for several weeks, guess it's possible she's already sat on eggs :h?:

Steve G · Jun 25, 2005

Richard W said:
yes but only once successfully in the 5/6 yrs that they've been nesting here, and one of the second brood of 3 didn't make it.

this year they're very early so looks promising, put up another box nearby a few weeks ago, having two boxes close to each other seems to work well.

haven't seen the female for several weeks, guess it's possible she's already sat on eggs :h?:

I'll keep my fingers crossed. It would be interesting to hear how matters progress.
Thanks Richard

Richard W · Jun 25, 2005

good to see that junior was back in the box this evening.

mum was also in with them when I left, can't have been much room with 5 Owls inside, seems that dad is doing all the hunting.

took scope with me and was able to pick out a ring on his leg while he perched after dropping off food.

Richard W · Jul 1, 2005

rain has kept me away most of this week, but someone else has seen the male carrying food to the new box.

in other years the youngsters have occupied other boxes but apparently they were still flying around the barn at the time so could be the female is in there for second brood, box has only been up a few weeks, amazing how they'll take to them so quickly.

boxes are due to be checked again in next few weeks, could be a bumper year!

Richard W · Jul 11, 2005

to update....

watched the male taking food to new box last night, female made a brief appaearance on the ledge, had a quick stretch then dropped back in so seems she is sat on a second clutch of eggs, couldn't see any sign of a ring.

4 young still being fed at the other box nearby, not much sign of them trying to find their own food but flying further from the barn.

malskelton · Jul 12, 2005

Richard W said:
to update....

watched the male taking food to new box last night, female made a brief appaearance on the ledge, had a quick stretch then dropped back in so seems she is sat on a second clutch of eggs, couldn't see any sign of a ring.

4 young still being fed at the other box nearby, not much sign of them trying to find their own food but flying further from the barn.

Superb news about the fledglings and the possible 2nd brood - I must admit to being very envious

I spend several nights a week at my local reserve, just a walk along the banks of the Humber, but my highlight is always when I see the Barn Owls. One of the most special birds I have been fortunate enough to see.

Mal Skelton

Richard W · Jul 13, 2005

I must admit to being very envious

am v lucky to have the chance to watch them, in 6+ years I've been putting up boxes this is the first time I've been able to see the younsters so much, think them being in the barn has made a lot of difference, normally I just see the adults drop into the (tree) box with food and fly out again.

the oldest of the four (probably female) wasn't there last night, hope that means she has left and nothing bad has happened, did have a good look around the farm buildings this morning and didn't find anything so fingers crossed.

the other three (all look like males) are still being fed and hissing very loudly at anything that flys into or onto the barn (mostly Pigeons), also started following dad after dropping off food and flying some distance, presume they wont be at the nest site for much longer.

will certainly miss watching them, but is nice to know they've had such a good start to the year.

malskelton · Jul 13, 2005

Richard W said:
will certainly miss watching them, but is nice to know they've had such a good start to the year.

Although they will be gone - and you will miss them, there is always the possibilty that they may return close to their birthplace.

Thus meaning that your enjoyment could be doubled next year

Mal Skelton

Richard W · Jul 16, 2005

that would be nice o

boxes were checked this morning, female in new box with 7 eggs.

also found out today one of the young birds ringed here was found dead on a road near Hereford, 2 months after it was ringed.

malskelton · Jul 18, 2005

Richard W said:
that would be nice o

boxes were checked this morning, female in new box with 7 eggs.

also found out today one of the young birds ringed here was found dead on a road near Hereford, 2 months after it was ringed.

Richard

Sorry to hear about the youngster, I've heard that a lot of Barn Owls get into trouble with cars

I was at another local site this Saturday morning, managed to see an owl three times in an hour ( I'm presuming it's the same one ). He seemed to be making a definite diagonal journey - twice we saw him with prey, the other time he was returning to the same field where he caught something.

The only assumption that we could make was that he was obviously feeding something - either a late first brood, or more realistically a second brood.

Hopefully it has been a good year for them nationwide.

Mal Skelton

Richard W · Jul 18, 2005

ringer friend who monitors Barn Owls in Herts says it has already been a v good year, he expects to ring twice the number of young birds as he usually does (he's already put rings on as many birds as he usually does in a year) and apparently the number of surviving youngsters in large broods is up.

just hope they can continue to find enough food, they're still bringing in plenty of Voles here.

was a shame to hear about the dead younster, but interesting it had travelled so far in a short time.

Andrew Rowlands · Jul 18, 2005

A friend visited one of his boxes here in Gwent last week - three small young and TEN eggs!!

Andy.

Richard W · Jul 18, 2005

:eek!:

very optimistic Owl to think it's going to raise that lot

things have changed a lot since my last evening visit, it was very quiet when I arrived, only the occasional hiss from the barn. Just after 9pm they all (inc the dark female) flew out into the scrub nearby.

for the next 45 mins they were flying around being much more "owl like", some lovely views against an orange sky as the sun set. Were making very long flights around surrounding fields & appeared to be looking for food, very little hissing at all when they came back to the barn.

no sign of the male bringing food, but with the younsters so active he might have been around & just couldn't tell, the female left the new nest box just before dusk, sat on the ledge for a while, looked like she was dozing off at one point (sitting on one leg) definitely not a ringed bird.

was joined by two Little Owls on the fence behind where I was sitting, one of those appeared quite fluffy and had a very odd squeaky call so presume was also a younster.

they were distured by a Fox, also saw a very scruffy Kestrel which was missing feathers on wings and tail, and a Sparrowhawk, fairly eventfull hour really o

Richard W · Jul 19, 2005

similar story tonight, again very quiet with very little calling.

the male appeared on the ledge of the new box just before dusk and stayed there for approx 20 mins.

Several of the youngsters appeared and he took no notice of them, nor they of him. Looks like he's no longer making any attempt to feed them, and the regular trips bringing food to the new nest seem to have reduced in frequency, in the 90 mins I was there only saw him bring food back once, guess this is linked to him no longer feeding the others.

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