Monochrome

Britain's favourite farmland bird in black and white:

Field Margins Work

Worries have began to surface about what effect the recent prolonged wet weather would have on the Barn Owl population which was, at best, fragile after what was a troubled 2013. One of  our most environmentally committed farmers had recently been maintaining the six-metre field margins that run all around his land so I decided to take a look to see if any birds were still on territory.  The benefit that these strips bring is fully exploited by Barn Owls as they provide a haven for their favourite food, the field vole. 

Six-metre field margins.

Encouragingly the fantastic habitat has encouraged a pair of Barn Owls. The male has been on site since 2012 but he seems to have lost his mate from last year and he now has a new partner, a two-year old female. Both birds were in fantastic condition and there is no reason why they should not stay to breed later in the year. 

New female on territory.

Resident Male

First Boxes of the Year

 The forecast was predicting a sunny day so I had arranged to visit an old friend to put some boxes up on his property. However, it came as no surprise when the heavens opened as I got out of the car!

A pair of Tawny Owls have been heard calling regularly and a Barn Owl has been seen prospecting in the nearby field so hopefully these new boxes should be taken quite soon.

A Summary of the Year

The BTO recently published the national Preliminary Results for its Nest Record Scheme and the details for three of our species are summarised in the table below:

Species	Laying Date Days	Clutch Size %	Brood Size %	Egg Stage Survival %	Chick Stage Survival %	Fledglings Survival %
Kestrel	19.6	-9.3	-16.0	-6.6	-8.7	-28.3
Barn Owl	6.7	-14.6	-3.0	-5.2	-2.1	-10.0
Tawny Owl	3.5	-2.6	-10.8	8.1	-7.0	-10.4

Table 1. Laying dates and breeding success in 2013 relative to the average for the previous five years (2008-12). Laying dates are given as the number of days earlier or later than the five-year average while productivity figures represent a percentage change relative to the five-year average.

Our own local experience is broadly in line with these national trends and the earliest egg laying date this year for Barn Owls in Mid-Cheshire was 24 April. This compares to dates of 3 March in 2012, 8 April in 2011, 2 April in 2010 and 11 March in 2009. The cold snap in March meant that many birds were unable to attain the body condition required for them to be able to breed successfully and this, along with poor prey availability, resulted in many birds electing not to breed at all  this year.

This manifested itself in the dearth of breeding Owls and Kestrels that we were able to find and many long-standing sites were simply devoid of birds which resulted in one of the least productive breeding seasons for many years.

	Adults Ringed	Retraps & Recoveries	Young Ringed	Number of Broods	Average Brood  Size
Tawny Owl	1	0	4	2	2
Little Owl	1	0	4	2	2
Barn Owl	21	26	29	9	3.2
Kestrel	1	2	14	5	2.8

Table 2. 2013 Birds in Mid Cheshire.  Both Kestrels that were recovered were birds that were sadly found dead during the Spring cold spell and seven of the eight Barn Owls were also discovered dead; again these birds were found during the Spring. Two of these owls were first year  birds that had travelled a relatively long distances (38 and 44 km) in an attempt to establish territories of their own.

Of the birds that were retrapped eight were found in the same nest boxes as previous years which betrays the sedentary habits of the Barn Owl and only six were discovered more than 10 km from where they had originated. Among these birds was our furthest ever traveller, a female that had moved over 100 km from Anglesey.

In the hope that things pick up during 2014 we have erected 34 new Barn Owl boxes and replaced a further 6 during the year. Additionally, a further 7 Tawny Owl boxes, 10 Kestrel boxes, 2 Long-eared Owl baskets  and 16 Little Owl boxes have also been put up. 

The last Barn Owl ringed in 2013.

Record Breaker

After discovering a new ringed bird it is always interesting to find out where it has come from. Most Barn Owls are sedentary in nature and tend not too move too far from where they originate so it was a great surprise to learn of the movements of this particular bird.

I had found her in mid September incubating what proved to be the latest clutch of owls that I have ever ringed and was later able to learn from her ring number that she had originated from a brood of three owls that were ringed in July 2007 near Maltraeth on Anglesey. She had travelled 127 km from Anglesey to Cheshire which is the largest movement of any Barn Owl that I have personally come across. 

It's Good to Put on Weight

Back at the beginning of April I came across this two year old male roosting in one of our boxes near to Antrobus and although he had managed to survive the ravages of the really cold Spring he was, unsurprisingly, decidedly underweight. Now in his third year, I found him again today roosting in the same nest box and although he had not managed to breed in 2013 he does seem to be well set for the Winter as his body weight has increased by almost 25% during the intervening period. 

Autumn Sunshine

Today we were able to enjoy a gloriously sunny Autumn morning in Cheshire and I was able to get across to Daresbury to meet my friend Ray. Recent conversations between us had made him realise that he had not spotted any Little Owls about for some considerable time; but last weekend an individual was seen hunting from a fence-line along one of the fields. Consequently we have put up a couple of nest boxes to try and encourage them to stay and breed next season.

Nearby there were some signs of occupation in one of our Barn Owl boxes and a quick look inside revealed this recently fledged female. She is in the process of trying to find her own territory after leaving her natal site and she has chosen well as the habitat is rich with small mammals to sustain her through the Winter. Good habitat and a home makes for happy owls!

Altogether a great morning.