The benefit of Good habitat

Today I checked a few boxes for potential second broods and although I was disappointed not to discover any I did reacquaint myself with this pair of fourth calandar year owls which have been together in the same nest boxes, near to Crowton, since 2010.

 

 

A roosting/nest site that is combined with ideal Barn Owl hunting habitat should guarantee that the birds remain on territory as they have all that they need. One of the distant trees below contains the nest box in a field that is permanently left as rough grassland - Barn Owl heaven!

A change of box

This pole box was originally erected in October 2006 and after six years of exposure I decided to replace it as it was beginning to show signs of wear and tear.

In order to encourage any youngsters to remain in the nest site until they are capable of flying I have chosen to put up a deeper A-Frame in its place; this should prevent any inquisitive owlets from falling out of the box as they cannot access the exit until they are that much older.

Into a new home

Having replaced one of our older boxes near to Stretton in late August I was delighted to discover a pair of owls had moved in. The male bird (above) had moved a couple of miles from a neighbouring farm where I had ringed him last October.

Predated Stock Dove

I made this grusome find in one of my owl boxes on Monday evening. This freshly killed Stock Dove was in a box that contained fresh Barn Owl pellets but the identity of the killer remains a mystery.

Post-breeding moult

Once a pair's young are well grown and ready to make their own way in the world the male bird will often begin the process of moulting his main flight feathers. The process will involve replacing certain feathers each year and the whole process can take four years until all of its flight feathers have been renewed. By contast the female will replace her flight feathers whilst she is confined to the nest site caring for her offspring. Sometimes, especially if she is going to double-brood, she will not begin her moult process until later in the year.

Inspection of nest sites can often reveal evidence of these flight feathers being replaced and can be a good indicator of the bird's activities. This nest site that was checked upon yesterday had produced four young that had fledged in July and now the parents are roosting together following the juvenile dispersal.

Checks for second broods.

 

 

 

 

I decided to take advantage of today's glorious sunshine and begin to search Barn Owl sites for potential second broods this afternoon.The first two sites that I had hopes for yielded nothing but empty boxes but my third and final attempt of the day saw me find the solitary youngster pictured above.

This is the first time since 2009 that successful second brood nesting has taken place within Mid-Cheshire; hopefully there will be more birds to find over the next few weeks.

Tonight I ringed this solitary owl near to Great Budworth. His parents had suffered a failed breeding attempt earlier in the year but managed to try again later in the Summer. This is the second successive year that the site has been successful following the erection of nestboxes during the Winter of 2010-2011.