Barn Owls, will 2014 be a better year?

Very few Barn Owls had young in 2013 – there was not enough food for them and even many of the adult birds were very hungry and did not survive. This year Barn Owls have been very elusive, they could be just hunting after dark or just very low in numbers, checking the nest sites is one way to find out.

At least once a year I check the Barn Owl nest boxes at Halls and Little Haugh Farms to see what is living in them. I try to keep checks to a minimum, partly to avoid disturbing nesting birds and partly because some of the boxes are quite high and looking into a box on the top of a ladder is not my favourite job. There are at least 10 boxes, the number is creeping up because people put boxes up in their gardens then ask me to check them on their behalf as I have a licence to do this.

I decided to look last weekend – a little earlier this year because it has been an early spring and the Barn Owls living in the straw barn at Halls Farm have been a bit more obvious. This is perhaps a sign that they starting to feed young but they are so deep in the straw it is impossible to know for sure until the young come out.

Barn Owl with one young bird and eggs

The reason why so many boxes have been put up in Suffolk is that most of the old farm buildings where owls used to live have been converted into houses and many of the old trees which were used for nesting have gone too.

The first box I looked in at Halls Farm has been up for two years and last year it was used as a roosting box. I opened the door this year and there was an adult Barn Owl sitting on 4 eggs. A nearby newer box looked like it was being used by the male bird who moves out when the female starts to nest. The other box at Halls has Stock  Doves in this year, which is good news too.

At Little Haugh the boxes are older and harder to check. There are no access doors so I hold a camera inside the box and take photos “blind”, not easy from the top of a ladder. The first two boxes had pellets and feathers inside, so have been used by Barn Owls since last year. The third box had an adult Barn Owl, one young bird and 4 eggs. Two more boxes at Little Haugh have Owl pellets and feathers, and the remaining boxes are being used by Jackdaws for nesting. There are many veteran Oak trees on the farm and it is highly likely that these are being used by at least one pair of Barn Owls.

Checking one of the empty boxes at Little Haugh

Last year we found no nesting Owls in the boxes, this year there are at least two pairs with eggs and young, and probably another nest in the straw and an old Oak tree. This is very good news, and it looks as though the local voles and mice are going to have a difficult summer as a result.

As the nights grow even shorter into June I will watch out to see if the Barn Owls at Halls and Little Haugh are catching food and taking it to their, hopefully, growing families. I will let you know.

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