For the last couple of years the new style barn owl nest boxes have been home to stock doves, grey squirrels, mandarin ducks and even a tawny owl but, at the end of September 2016, John from BOAG saw a barn owl leaving one of the recycled plastic nest boxes. Today we checked the nest box and found a late brood of two chicks almost ready to fledge. This is great news as the boxes are manufactured from recycled plastic, rot proof, maintenance free and make a durable nest site for the barn owls in Staffordshire.
Thanks to funding, from the Alice Noake's Memorial Charity Trust and the Churnet Valley Living Landscapes Project, in late 2013 and over 2014 BOAG built and installed eight experimental barn owl nest boxes. The boxes made from recycled plastic, were designed to be more durable and weather resistant than nest boxes more usually made from plywood. For the last couple of years the new style barn owl nest boxes have been home to stock doves, grey squirrels, mandarin ducks and even a tawny owl but, at the end of September 2016, John from BOAG saw a barn owl leaving one of the recycled plastic nest boxes. Today we checked the nest box and found a late brood of two chicks almost ready to fledge. This is great news as the boxes are manufactured from recycled plastic, rot proof, maintenance free and make a durable nest site for the barn owls in Staffordshire. Barn Owl chicks, almost ready to fledge, found using the new-style nest boxes
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During the summer months the BOAG volunteers are out and about in Staffordshire busy checking nest boxes, keeping a careful eye on how the breeding season is going. Monitoring also gives conservationists a good opportunity to see how the barn owl population is doing from year to year. We are able to establish whether pairs of barn owls are in good health and able to breed; how many eggs and young they produce and whether the brood is successful and the parents rear all the young until they are ready to fledge. Barn owls are not the only species that use the nest boxes, we regularly find stock doves, grey squirrels and jackdaws using the boxes to nest or roost in. From time to time we find more unusual species such as mandarin duck, tawny owls and kestrels using the nest boxes. At the end of July John, Ivan and myself went to inspect nest boxes installed on farmland and nature reserves in East Staffordshire. On the first farm that we visited we had five barn owl nest boxes to check, we found three boxes with nesting stock doves and two boxes which had been used by jackdaws. A more unusual find in one of the boxes was the old comb from a wasp's nest. Empty comb from an old wasp's nest The next site that we visited has two boxes overlooking land in the process of being enhanced for wildlife. The first box had stock dove chicks, the second box was beginning to look hopeful as there were white splashings in the undergrowth around the tree, a good sign that barn owls have been around. Unfortunately, when we opened up the nest box we found a dead male barn owl, such a shame. An unfortunate discovery, a dead male barn owl inside a nest box It wasn't obvious how the barn owl had died so we sent the dead bird off to be analysed by the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme. The post mortem results that came back a few months later were inconclusive. We then returned to an estate where we had found barn owl chicks the previous year, we were in luck there were two healthy chicks in the nest box, which were ringed a few days later. Two healthy barn owl chicks not far off fledging Our final box of the day was installed on the edge of a village overlooking farmland. Last year we had found three barn owl pellets in the box, this time we found over 30 fresh pellets so a barn owl had continued to use the nest box as a place to roost.
We never know what we will find until the nest boxes are monitored and we get a brief glimpse of the wildlife stories behind the inspection hatches of the barn owl nest boxes. A day of highs and lows! Last week BOAG was filming with the BBC, for a feature on barn owls, to coincide with the publication of the Barn Owl Trust's latest report on the state of barn owls in the UK. 2014 saw a much improved picture for barn owls across the UK compared with 2013 when numbers greatly declined following a cold, late spring. Members of the BOAG team were filmed constructing barn owl nest boxes at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust's HQ, where the group is based. Barn owl nest boxes provide important roost and nest sites for barn owls as many of the traditional and natural nest sites, such as old barns and hollow trees, have been lost in recent years. Nest boxes provide an alternative breeding place for barn owls and are important in conservation as they enable barn owl groups to monitor the barn owl population and gauge how they are doing from year to year. David Gregory-Kumar, correspondent with BBC Inside Out, then went on a visit to a barn owl nest box along the River Dove. The box was one of forty which had been installed as part of a project with BOAG and the Environment Agency back in 2006/7 and where last year a family of five young barn owls unusually had fledged as late as the end of November. This reflected the long breeding season of 2014 with barn owls across the UK producing late and second broods helping to boost barn owl numbers.
BOAG will feature on Inside Out for the West Midlands region on Monday 9th February at 7.30pm. Click on the link below to catch up with the barn owl feature on Inside Out http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051v9wc Photo from film by John Chester As 2014 comes to an end Staffordshire Barn Owl Group can report that this year has seen a big improvement on last year. Barn owls in Staffordshire have been breeding throughout the year with late clutches and second broods. The photo here is of five young barn owls fledging from a nest box in Staffordshire as late as November. This year the group has recorded 38 pairs of barn owls with over 110 chicks fledging. This is due to the mild spring and late autumn and a good supply of small mammals such as field voles which make up a large part of the barn owl's diet. Listen out for BOAG over Christmas and New Year on BBC Stoke Radio as they visit a barn owl nest box at Coombes Valley. The 2014 monitoring records for BOAG barn owl nest boxes are nearly all in and things are looking brighter for barn owls in Staffordshire. After a disappointing year in 2013, when only 15 breeding pairs of barn owls were found and only 24 young successfully fledged, this year has seen a considerable improvement. This year BOAG has monitored 263 nest boxes and found 27 pairs of barn owls successfully rearing over 79 chicks.
Following an appeal from Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for barn owl sightings it is likely further 4 pairs were breeding in natural nest sites. This year the weather has been favourable for barn owls and in recent weeks several late broods have been observed. Brood sizes in Staffordshire have also been larger than usual with one breeding pair successfully rearing 7 chicks and a further three pairs successfully rearing 6 young each. On Saturday 20th September BOAG joined Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, The Bumble Bee Conservation Trust, The Owl Experience and local stall holders selling organic cheese, jam, honey, bedding plants, eggs and a display of local garden produce for the Derrington Way Ahead, 6th Local Food Festival which was opened by the Mayor of Stafford Borough Council. Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group was there to give a talk on the decline of the barn owl and barn owl conservation. BOAG also had on display an exhibit and activities for children including barn owl pellet dissection. Derrington village were interested in the possibility of installing barn owl nest boxes on their Millennium Green, if the site provides good habitat and good opportunities for the barn owl BOAG would be happy to help out. A Tawny and Little Owl from The Owl Experience, Stafford; Photos Helen Cottam
Four barn owl chicks were recently found whilst monitoring nest boxes on the Duchy of Lancaster Estate near to Burton-On-Trent. The nest boxes were installed as a £900,000 conversion was carried out on old, derelict farm buildings where barn owls were know to be nesting and rearing young for a number of years.
Work to convert the barns began in 2010 during which time Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group was in consultation with the Land Agents, working on behalf of the Duchy, and with the developers. Four nest boxes were installed on the surrounding farmland and loft space in one of the converted barns was made available for the resident barn owls. Whilst monitoring Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group found evidence that barn owls remained on the site but, it was not until this year when the four chicks were discovered, that the group was able to confirm that barn owls were again breeding on the Estate. Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group reported their findings to the Land Agents and the story has been taken up by the Duchy of Lancaster. Nathan Thompson, Chief Executive of the Duchy of Lancaster, said it is committed to both promoting the countryside and supporting the surrounding wildlife and its natural habitats including nesting areas for barn owls. The story has also featured in Burton Mail published on the 9th August. On Sunday 22nd June, The Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group was awarded with a medal from Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for exceptional voluntary service to the cause of wildlife in Staffordshire. The medal was presented to Helen Cottam, on behalf of The Barn Owl Group, by the Patron of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Sir James Hawley. Six medals were awarded to individuals and groups in recognition of their voluntary work to the cause of wildlife at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust's AGM held at The Wolseley Centre. Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group will be attending A Wild Day Out at Dove Valley Centre at Sheen near Longnor, in the beautiful Peak District on Sunday 8th June from 12-4pm.
Come along to find out about barn owl conservation, dissect a barn owl pellet and make a colourful paper owl model. There will also be lots of other interesting wildlife activities to get involved with. This week BBC Midlands Today came along to film and help BOAG install a barn owl nest box overlooking the stunning scenery of The Roaches. BBC Midlands Today were interested to find out why the barn owl had suffered so badly following the winter of 2013, when a late snowy spring had a devastating impact on breeding pairs, and what efforts are being done to help barn owls in the future. The Barn Owl Trust has recently published a report on the State of UK Barn Owl Population- 2013 after numbers of barn owls plummeted in 2013, but they are hopeful that the barn owl population will recover providing we have a run of several mild winters. David Gregory-Kumar from BBC Midlands Today was keen to help install a barn owl nest box in an ash tree, overlooking perfect barn owl habitat of grassland and wild flower hay meadows. The nest box used is part of the Churnet Valley Living Landscape Project and has been sited within the barn owl stronghold around the Leek area. Conservation efforts to help the barn owl include creating good habitat with an abundance of small mammals for the barn owls to hunt and the provision of nest boxes, which provide 75% of known barn owl nest sites in the UK. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has been requesting that the public sends in details of any recent barn owl sightings as part of its monitoring programme which will also help BOAG target areas for nest boxes. If you would like to see BOAG in action with help from David, we will be on air on Friday 30th May as part of BBC Midlands Today's Springwatch feature. |
AuthorHelen Cottam Archives
October 2016
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