26th May 2011

Today the eldest chick is 12 days old.
There are two main changes that it will have undergone. The main change is in its plumage, which will now change to its denser second coat which is downy and white. This keeps it warmer so that, eventually, the female can leave to go hunting herself.
The chick also opens its eyes for short periods from today. It must look like a strange world!

The Barn Owl Project Nestbox

An image showing the barn owl nestbox.

21st May 2011

Great news this morning as we now have a full brood of three chicks! The third arrived at 7am yesterday morning.
Let's hope there is plenty of food for them and they all make it to fledging!

19th May 2011

The Barn Owl camera in mid Lincs is up and running again thanks to sterling work from Colin Shawyer and Andrew Chick.
The first egg was laid in the pole box on 12th April, the second on 15th April and the third and final egg on 18th April.
Two chicks have hatched so far with another one expected any time now.
The first chick emerged on 14th May and the second on 17th May.

1st August 2010

The two owlets are now flying well, but have been returning to the box during the daytime. We suspect that they will leave the box totally, within the next week or so as they become more independent. They now have plenty of time to master their hunting skills before the onset of winter.

18th July - fingers crossed

The chicks are not always in view, as they can wander out of sight of the camera to the entrance of the box. These two chicks have survived the wet and windy weather this week. Many other owlets have not been so lucky, as recent checks of some nest sites suggest that between a quarter and a third of young Barn Owls have died of starvation over the past week, because the adults were unable to go out hunting in either wet or windy conditions. Even very large chicks at 6/7 weeks old, (same age as these two) have not survived................a very sad state of affairs.

12th July 2010

The two chicks are now six weeks old and appear to be doing well. Two chicks seem to be the normal brood size in the area around this box. Barn Owls in some areas seem to have been affected badly during the cold spell earlier in the year, with the result that they have laid fewer eggs than normal. In a good year Barn Owls will average 4 or so young per brood. Hopefully these two chicks will fledge successfully.