Barn Owl box No 53

Sunday morning found Col and I out there braving the elements whilst erecting yet more owl boxes. There was suppose to be a third member of the crew lending a hand but when we went to pick up Carl and the boxes he started waffling on about it was too cold and he wasn't coming!

 

I'd had enough of his pathetic excuses and wanted to go but Col stood there trying to reason with him (image below) about getting his priorities right. Finally the truth came spilling out, instead he was going to stay at home and bake a cake........WHAT??? Yeah can you believe it, a Victoria Sponge too!

So we left "fairy cake Carl" with his baking powder and jam filling and got on with the task in hand. Our first location was a large barn not from from the village of Gilmorton, it was only a few hundred yards from here where I saw a Barn Owl only two weeks ago so hopefully the timing is perfect.

 

Gilmorton - Barn Owl Box No 51

Whilst Col was busy erecting the box I had a wander around the large complex of barns, in doing so I chanced upon a large number of Little Owl pellets on the floor. It just so happened that we had a Little Owl box with us so where better to erect it than here?

This is our new design Little Owl box that was first seen in a previous post a couple of weeks ago. We decided (well Col did!) that a perfect location for it was on top of some old farm machinery nearby to where the pellets on the floor were located.

 

Col did all the hard work putting the box up, I just posed next to it for the camera !

Little Owl box No 50 - Gilmorton

At the second location of the morning we put up another Barn Owl box, this time we were in the village of Leire and in yet another isolated barn. Although I've never actually seen an owl here I did find fresh pellets a month or so ago whilst doing some investigating.

 

The box we put up here was of the newly converted and enlarged design of a smaller owl box. And yes miracles do occur occasionally, I can be seen here actually doing some work for once! 

Leire - Barn Owl box No 52

The final and fourth box of the morning was erected near to the village of Peckleton. I haven't ever seen a Barn Owl at this location before but that is the point of what we are trying to achieve. Give em somewhere to live, roost and breed and if they find it?........Hopefully they will use it!

Peckleton - Barn Owl box No 53

So that is now 53 Barn Owl boxes we have put up locally, along with the 50 Little Owl boxes we hope 2013 is going to be a breeding year to remember, that would definitely be the icing on the cake for me and Col!