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.
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