Project Update - 14 June 2009

The programme now has nearly 100 sites around West Oxfordshire, about half of which lie within the Wychwood Project boundary.

Fieldwork activities are at their highest during the summer when monitoring of the nest sites for breeding success. In 2008 this extended further into the autumn with one site being recorded as having young 3-4 week old owlets in early November, a quite exceptional situation.

From November onwards our activities were directed towards dealing with requests for advice and carry out surveys of possible new sites where nest boxes could be placed. We make up our own boxes to a design that we have found most appropriate. This includes a rectangular shape (see pictures) approximately 24” deep by 18” wide and high. A 6” x 6” entrance hole is included in the removable frontspiece. The latter facility is to allow for easy cleaning out every 3 – 4 years. We have also found that it is extremely important that the entrance hole is situated at the top of the frontspiece. This makes it difficult for the young owls to get out of the box before they are strong enough to get back in again safely, thus increasing their chances of survival.

Other activities over the past few months have included attendance at the Annual Symposium of the Barn Owl Conservation Network. This provided an excellent opportunity to meet with other barn owl enthusiasts from around the UK and share their experiences. We have also had the pleasure of giving talks to a number of local Groups and a Primary School.

In spite of the ice and snow of last winter, which must have made life difficult for barn owls, we have not had any undue indications of higher than average deaths. Early results from our initial field surveys give cause for cautious optimism. We look forward to a busy summer recording breeding successes.