Passion for nature, 250+ owl nest boxes made, erected and continually monitored since 2008. licensed BTO owl nest recorder. All photos my own. LCFC supporter.
This afternoon myself and mi mate Paul Riddle have been busy starting to make 14 Owl boxes for land owners around South Leicestershire.
We must get out and check a few boxes as well.
Out this evening with Mick & @greeny1955 checking more breeding boxes in south Leicestershire. First site had 4 x #Kestrel chicks that were soon ringed with the assistance of the landowners tractor. 2nd site had 5 x young #Barnowls that were soon ringed and returned. Happy days😜
Out again this evening with @PMRiddle checking 8 more of our Owl boxes under licence. But sadly only 2 adults seen and no eggs or chicks. We did have a couple of Little Owls and a couple of Grey Partridge.
Been out this evening with
@PMRiddle checking some more of our Owl boxes under Licence. Out the 5 we checked, adults were at the boxes but only one box had 3 chicks. Not a good year for Barn Owls? On our patch anyway. We did have one of our kestrel boxes with 4 chicks👍
I managed to squeeze in another drive around the Leicestershire lanes at dusk. I was hoping for #littleowl but sadly none were located. However, a real bonus was this #tawnyowl, a very handsome fellow indeed that was quite vocal. Next trip out will be in pursuit of #barnowls….
Got out in my truck this evening, the upturn with the spring like weather would surely mean the local owls would be active? A slow drive around the lanes finally produced a result when this Little Owl was chanced upon just before dusk, a nice poser too!!😜
@ScarecrowNeste1@greeny1955 I honestly don’t know, i guess about 10 years doing just the Barnie boxes and the total could now be as high as 300? Thanks for your comments 👍🏻
Out this evening with @greeny1955 finishing off our newly designed #barnowl & #kestrel boxes. All 7 are for a land manager in the south of Leicestershire.
Last night Col & I erected a Tawny Owl breeding barrel in a small spinney in south Leicestershire. The owner set up a trail camera below the box, she returned today to check if anything had been caught investigating, and unbelievably a Tawny Owl has already checked it out!😜 🦉
Have been down the workshop with @greeny1955�� tonight. We’ve designed a new #barnowl breeding box that will hopefully prove to be suitable for the owls and maintenance free for many years to come.🦉😜
@stuttonsparrows@ScarecrowNeste1 Although I haven’t actually recorded the local LO numbers for a few years there is no doubt that many known breeding sites from previous years now have no occupancy! My only conclusion is the increase in raptors (Buzzards mainly) that have possibly contributed to the decline??