Last week, accompanied by Chris Payne and John Boland we checked seven Barn Owl boxes on Olney Park Farm, just over the Northamptonshire border in North Buckinghamshire.
Two of the boxes contained Barn Owls. The first had three owlets, which were duly ringed, and the second had a stunning female along with two owlets. The female was ringed although the owlets were too small at present and will require a further visit. All ringing is undertaken under strict Schedule 1 permit restrictions.
.jpg "Barn Owl young at Olney Park Farm")
.jpg "Adult Barn Owl at Olney Park Farm")
The Althorp Barn Owls which were ringed on the 28th May are continuing to grow really well with very attentive parents with the male bird now taking on the major hunting of mice & voles. The female bird could very possibly be contemplating laying her second brood of eggs very soon, if not already. Having a 4G camera 24/7 in situ, has been great to watch the chicks progress since they hatched. I've watched recently as many as 14 feeds coming in one night & evidently they cash them to one side to eat later if the chicks were full.
Its a busy time for Schedule1 ringers around the county at the moment & all with the necessary licences being held.
It's with the kind cooperation of Earl Spencer & the Althorp Estate Conservation Managers that I have been granted access to restricted areas on the estate to survey & supply new boxes to extend their coverage of Barn Owl boxes on the huge estate. Signs are looking very positive.
BARN OWLS & Boxes
Its been a frantic couple of months for me so far this year after the successful take up of Barn Owls in boxes on the private Courteenhall Estate near Northampton. There are now 10 new boxes on this estate with the first four being put up last October/November. Within a number of weeks there were clear signs that the owls were taking full advantage of their new abodes, with a good number of pellets found in the vicinity as well as inside each box & by observation by the estate team flying in & out from them.
The demand for Barn Owl boxes from me was amazing with the second batch for Courteenhall, some more for three estates in Norfolk & more recently six put up on the Althorp Estate where there are existing boxes of which some will have to be replaced in the future. Both Northampton Estates, Althorp & Courteenhall have given the Northants Ringing Group permission to do bird ringing in the future. We had a very successful 1st ringing session on Courteenhall Estate a while back with well over 200 Goldfinches ringed on the day.
I will be overseeing the Barn Owls ringing in future at both sites & also at Kelmarsh Estate where they have four boxes & there are a number of other individual sites I maintain too. This is all carried out under strict rules & a special Schedule 1 licence through the BTO at the specified site locations.
Chris Payne - Chairman of Northants Ringing Group
