By Derek Gruar, Senior Research Assistant, Hope Farm
Ashoka (Grahame Madge)
Since the RSPB took ownership of Hope Farm back in 2000, we have seen several bird species colonise the farm including grey partridge, lapwing and yellow wagtail. A firm favourite of these re-colonising species is the charismatic barn owl, which returned to breed at the farm in 2009 and has subsequently returned to breed in 2011 and 2012.
Barn owls are loved by many, and the BTO estimates the national number of barn owl nest boxes at a staggering 25,000! On Hope Farm, we provide three barn owl nest boxes as natural sites are limited. One nest box was kindly donated to us by Guy Smith/NFU soon after we purchased the farm and is located within one of our barns. One is mounted on a lone tree on a field boundary and the other sited on an old telegraph pole at the junction of three fields.
The nest boxes are regularly monitored to check for nesting. All nest inspections are carried out under schedule one licences issued by BTO/Natural England. In May 2009, the first eggs were seen in the nest box in our barn. Three eggs were laid and subsequently two chicks fledged, almost three months after the first egg was laid, it takes two months for a newly hatched owlet to leave the nest.
After a blank year in 2010, we were pleasantly surprised in June 2011 when checking the tree mounted box for a stock dove nest (previously we had seen doves entering and leaving the box) when a pair of barn owls flew out. Two weeks later the first of seven eggs (clutch size is usually 4-6 eggs) were seen in the box, six of these eggs subsequently hatched and five nestlings fledged in mid October.
Nesting owls returned to the barn box in 2012, birds were seen using the box in early May and the first egg was laid in the middle of the month. Of the six eggs that were laid, four hatched and all chicks were doing well at the last check in mid August and are expected to fledge at the end of the month. One of the chicks is pictured - we called him Ashoka after an ancient king from the Indian sub-continent, known as 'The Great'.
During the routine bird monitoring that we conduct each summer, we observed that barn owls were also using the tree mounted nest box on the opposite side of the farm. Initially we were unsure whether these were the “barn nesting birds” using the nest box as a roost site. However, in late July we found that five eggs had been laid and that we have for the first time in the twelve years of managing the farm, two pairs of nesting barn owls. By late August three chicks had just hatched, a further check will be made in early September and chicks ringed later that month.
Things got even better when we recently discovered a third pair breeding on the farm with six eggs in. Quite amazing.
All the nestling barn owls at Hope Farm are ringed under licence from the BTO (around 8,000 barn owls are ringed annually in the UK); this allows us the opportunity to find out dispersal information on them once they have fledged. A small number of roosting adult birds have been ringed in winter too. Of the eleven barn owls ringed on the farm before 2012 the fate of three are known. Two unfortunately have been found dead between 5 and 10km of the farm, at least one a road casualty (possibly the biggest cause of mortality for barn owls apart from harsh winter weather). One bird had a lucky escape as it was released alive from a crow trap 47km to the north of farm in the Fens. A locally ringed bird was found roosting in a nest box in January 2012.
You can see a map detailing the locations of barn owl ringing recoveries from Hope Farm here.
Well done,seem to think I saw that Barn Owls have increased quite a lot in the last few years perhaps as a result of field margins being left and not growing crops close to field boundaries.