Barn Owl Ringing......part 2.

Any regulars readers of this blog will know that we have been closely monitoring a pair of local Barn Owls via a nest box camera that Glyn, Daz and I fitted last year.  Because we can sit at home and remotely view all the activities it makes the decision of when to ring the juvenile birds very easy. The three remaining chicks are growing rapidly and it was decided that this evening was the perfect time to get the task done.

 

Chris and Andy from the Charnwood Ringers were good enough to come over and do their thing. Andy was voted as being the most agile and experienced with handling young birds, so up the ladder to the nest box he went. He can be seen here carefully collecting each chick one by one and placing them into a purpose made cloth bag.

The chicks were taken out of the bags one at a time and all the relevant data was captured before they were rung.

 Chris gave us an expert class in ringing.

The first one completed, good job Chris!

 

Then not to be out done, Andy too showed us how it was done.

We were all in close attendance watching the show. From L to R: Daz, Joe (my son) Glyn, Amelia (Glyn's daughter) Chris and Andy.

Once all the ringing was complete, Andy gathered all three chicks between his legs for a family shot.

 

So that is the last of the ringing for this year, I reckon these chicks will continue to rapidly grow and they should be on the wing in a few weeks time. Considering how wet it has been this year the parent owls have done a fabulous job at this site raising two broods and seven youngsters in total.