Hi and welcome to my Blog, my name is Paul Riddle and I live in south Leicestershire, UK. Back in August 2007 my quest began to locate as many local Little Owl territories as possible. The driving force was a reported decline in the uk numbers so I thought I would do my bit and conduct a study in my area. After 7 years and countless hours out in the field I have detected over 200 different sites. With a thirst for a greater understanding of the owls a more comprehensive monitoring and nest box programme then commenced. This also now includes monitoring the local and very sparse population of Barn Owls, please pop back occasionally and catch up with the life and times of my owls and any other wildlife that I come across. I hope you enjoy your visit!!!

Saturday 13 April 2013

Every cloud has a silver lining.........

Towards the end of last month viewing of the local Barn Owls was excellent, but there was a sad side to these daily sightings. The harsh weather conditions made it extremely difficult for these birds to locate their prey as they scurried around under a couple of inches of snow. Consequently the owls were forced out into daytime hunting because they were starving. Although the weather has now improved somewhat and the hunting conditions are much improve it is only now that the mortality rates are becoming known.
 
But as they say life must go on and how true that saying is today! Luckily the Barn Owls that we monitor via our barn & nest box camera survived the bitter weather and yesterday the hen bird laid her first egg!

This image below is a screen shot from the video footage and the first egg can clearly been seen.

 
Last year this pair had two broods and successfully raised 7 youngsters, considering resent events and the loss of local birds (due to the weather) it is vitally important that they have a good breeding year and contribute to getting the numbers back up.
 
Here's to wishing them well!

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful news! Would be good to view a live feed of this!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Streaming it live via my blog was my original objective but sadly there is not enough broadband speed at the farm.

      Delete
  2. Very encouraging news, Paul. Please keep us posted with progress at this location. Fingers crossed!!

    ReplyDelete