The past month has flown by and a fair bit of time has been taken up with the Barn Owl Survey. The trail cams seem to be behaving better which is a relief. Having persuaded the Ornithological Section to buy three, I was worried that they were not going to deliver the evidence of breeding that we need.
This week they were able to give confirmation of successful breeding from another two sites. This brings the total of confirmed breeding sites for the year to eleven, and I’m hopeful that another half dozen or so will be added to the list. So far, the trail cams have returned footage from five sites, two of which do not appear to have owls this year.
The image at the top shows a female that was ringed last month. She has a sister and both were in very good condition. It promises to be a good year for Barn Owls. I hope many of this year’s owlets will be making excursions out of the box (branching) on to nearby branches so they don’t overheat with the current high temperatures.
In some parts of the UK, Barn Owls can be seen out hunting from late afternoon. Many of our owls are truly nocturnal. The footage below is unusual as it was taken during daylight hours. It’s good to see an adult and a chick in the same clip.
The following one, from a different site, shows an owlet that is just flying. It has left the box for a nearby branch. Head nodding is typical behaviour in a youngster as it develops a sense of distance.
The hissing sound is the chick’s begging call. The Barn Owl Survey team would be very interested to know of any locations where people have heard this at night, what3words is a brilliant app for pinpointing a location. You can contact us via email at barnowlsurvey2020@gmail.com
We’re pleased with the way the field work is progressing this summer, following two years of lockdown, but we’re sure there are more owls out there that we don’t know about, especially in the St. Martin’s area. We would love to hear about any sightings or, better still, breeding sites that we don’t know about. They are treated in the strictest confidence.
Ringing Barn Owls needs a special licence. Chris Mourant is currentlly our only active ringer in Guernsey with such a licence. We ring as many chicks as possible. Where they are on private land, the decision is made by the land owner. Ringing gives each bird a unique number and an address, so that when a ring is recovered, usually from a dead or injured bird, we know its sex, its age and where it originated. All this information will help inform policy if and when Guernsey improves its legislation for protecting our wildlilfe and the habitats they need.
Barn Owls need rough grassland where they hunt for voles and other rodents. Let’s hope that these beautiful birds have a future in Guernsey where land is coming under increasing pressure to be developed or managed.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 