[arobwk]

Anyone here with some owl knowledge/experience?

I've just been on the Barn Owl Trust web-site;  quite informative, but no facility to just pop them a quick email for specific advice.  Hence my starter question above. 

With field voles a-plenty on/in my fields, the fields are no doubt (must be) visited by owls, but I've never actually seen one (night or day) nor signs of.  Been wondering whether I might be able to persuade some owls to take up a more permanent residence and/or persuade them to frequently visit my patch as part of their patch.
Some questions: 

Can owls deal with chicken/rabbit type mesh fencing ?  (Not long after I put up 1st deer/rabbit fence, in Field 1, I did notice a high level "dent". No sign of feathers below and no dents since then, but I have been wondering about that dent !)

I don't have any old buildings and no big trees for an owl box (or boxes), but I read that barn owls, say, will nest/roost as low as 3m above ground.  My ISO containers are nigh-on 3m high and owl box could easily be installed ont' roof with some extra height added (which would obviously be pretty much inaccessible to ground-based predators).  Any thoughts on that ?

I have one disused telegraph pole to which an owl nest box might be attached, but that is immediately adjacent an unregistered road: not busy, but not the most quiet of rural by-ways.  Any thoughts ?

I have wondered whether Western Power might be OK with me attaching an owl box to an "active" timber power pole on my land.  Have yet to ask them the question and I suspect the answer will be "No", but any experience anyone?

[I note BOT Barn Owl nest boxes, for example, available at just £78 plus postage for an indoor one (easily enhanced for outdoor use rather than pay for their £184 outdoor model):  I would say that seems a good price !]

[Fleecewife]

Snap     We have just been wondering about trying to put up a barn owl box.  We have a few tawny owls but we hadn't seen a barn owl for a few years, since a neighbour demolished part of his old steading and chopped down a wonderful hollow tree. However Mr F saw a beautiful barn owl down on our newly planted woodland strip, which has rough grass full of vole holes, just the other night.  I hear the tawnies so will now start listening out for the barn owls.
We leave half of our pastures as rough grass each year for the yellow hammers (we have lots) and they will be wonderful for the barn owls too. We are also hoping to attract a kestrel back.
I too had a look at the Barn Owl Trust site.  I was quite surprised at the preferred designs for owl boxes.  Did you look at that, showing how deep they need to be with the hole right at the top to prevent owlets falling out before they can fly? Huge, so very heavy.
We have a road which goes right through the middle of our smallholding (unnumbered but it's a rat run) so it's impossible to be particularly far from it.  We do have a couple of very tall, sturdy trees but we are wondering how on earth we could get such a giant box up there without a cherry picker.  I can see a pair of pensioners having a very nasty accident trying 
I had a look at the 'is your land suitable for owls' bit.  We are at NT04 which is blueish  meaning it's not suitable for barn owls, but seeing as we have them, and there is an owl box in a nearby plantation I am ignoring that.


I don't think the power company would be too pleased with a box on their pole, as it would surely interfere with their access, in fact they couldn't shimmy up the pole at all while owls were nesting.


Until I realised we do have some big trees now I was thinking we would have to put up a telegraph type pole specifically for the box.  Could you put in a big pole yourself? We used telegraph poles to make our pole barn and used a front loader and a system of ropes and pullies (and a climbing harness) to get them and the roof trusses in place.


I'm wondering about predators such as stoats and jackdaws, ravens and crows for a box out in the open.  I suppose the same would apply on a tree.  It would be useful if you could phone and speak to an expert, wouldn't it!

[Womble]

We have tawnies (both the owls and  the port - makes for quite a good drinking game. One sip for a twit, one for a twooo). We put up one wood and one plastic tawny box and one plastic barn owl box. There's no evidence of the wooden tawnie box being used, but we do know they occasionally roost in the plastic one.


Though I did once see a barn owl hunting on our land, their box hasn't been used, to our knowledge.

The plastic boxes are the "Eco" models from the Nestbox Company, and I would highly recommend. They're made from something akin to "Stokboard". Ours were paid for by a local grant scheme, so we didn't worry too much about the price. However, it's quite clear that the plastic boxes will last far, far longer than the wooden one, which makes the extra cost well worth it IMO.

I'm afraid I can't answer your other questions though!

[Rupert the bear]

Anyone here with some owl knowledge/experience?

I've just been on the Barn Owl Trust web-site;  quite informative, but no facility to just pop them a quick email for specific advice.  Hence my starter question above. 

At the bottom of the home page


The Barn Owl Trust
Waterleat, Ashburton, Devon TQ13 7HU
+44 (0) 1364 255 256 / 01364 653026
[email protected]

[Buttermilk]

We have a home made barn owl box on the end of our barn.  Owls have used it in previous years but not this last year.

I cannot see quiet roads being a problem for the owls and they have been known to nest in very busy farm yards.  Robert Fuller has them nesting in close proximity to his galleries car park.

[Fleecewife]

When I was still working outside the smallholding, I had to set off for work in darkness for most of the year.  There was usually a barn owl sitting on a particular fence stob down in the valley.  Every morning as I drove past the owl would take off from her post and skim the roof of the car, or aim straight for my head when I was on a bike.  Then the day came when she wasn't there and I never saw her again.  Had something higher than my vehicles been there, then I have the horrible feeling that she was killed.  It's a really quiet road, or was back then which perhaps encouraged her to sit so close to the road but I think it shows that any road can be dangerous to an owl.

[Steph Hen]

We have lots of owls. I’m afraid I wake up the tawnys when I shut the hens away with a call from my cupped hands - I like that they call back and it’s dusk anyway. Later they fly down to the big trees at the house snd wake us up.
At our last house, only a mile away we had a pair of barn owls used to spend a fair bit of time in the sheds, loved seeing them there. Buzzards hunt them though which is frustrating - yes I know it’s all a part of nature but still annoying.

[Womble]

I used to do that until Mrs Womble pointed out it was the equivalent of having a shouting match of "*** off!"..... "no, YOU **** off" with our nearest neighbours 

[Fleecewife]

I used to do that until Mrs Womble pointed out it was the equivalent of having a shouting match of "*** off!"..... "no, YOU **** off" with our nearest neighbours 

It's the same with all birds isn't it.  Those cute robins and liquid-song blackbirds singing from their vantage points are just saying 'Mine Mine Mine so F off'.  When birders play back recordings of male birds 'singing', it must seriously stress out others of the same species, thinking their territory is being invaded.  Well spotted Mrs Womble 

[Anke]

The plastic boxes are the "Eco" models from the Nestbox Company, and I would highly recommend. They're made from something akin to "Stokboard". Ours were paid for by a local grant scheme, so we didn't worry too much about the price. However, it's quite clear that the plastic boxes will last far, far longer than the wooden one, which makes the extra cost well worth it IMO.

mmmhhhh... just looked them up. 160quid! For a plastic box??? No way...


We do have tawny owls (waking me up duing the night), and I have seen (only rarely though, February mornings seem to be good) a barn owl flying. So I guess they must have somewhere to live already.

[Fleecewife]

However, should the parents owls raise 3 chicks each year, then they will need somewhere to live, if there are enough territories.

[Womble]

mmmhhhh... just looked them up. 160quid! For a plastic box??? No way...

Fair enough. Like I say, ours were paid for by a grant - my pockets aren't that deep either. However, for the size of the thing, I actually don't think that's unreasonable. A single sheet of Stokboard is £60 for instance.

If you're on a budget, there are plenty of plans available showing how to make your own from plywood. It's just if anybody IS intending to buy pre-made boxes, I'd recommend shelling out the extra £30 for plastic over plywood, as the overall cost per year will be far less.

[Rupert the bear]

I used to do that until Mrs Womble pointed out it was the equivalent of having a shouting match of "*** off!"..... "no, YOU **** off" with our nearest neighbours 

It's the same with all birds isn't it.  Those cute robins and liquid-song blackbirds singing from their vantage points are just saying 'Mine Mine Mine so F off'.  When birders play back recordings of male birds 'singing', it must seriously stress out others of the same species, thinking their territory is being invaded.  Well spotted Mrs Womble 

Years ago I made a one hour recording of one of the male Blackbirds doing his evensong from his spot in the apple tree ( nice to fall asleep to )  playing it back usually results in the current territorial incumbent having a hissy fit at  the  "intruder", works every time.
On topic, the Owls here frequent the line of the forest and work up the field generally stopping on the steading roof waiting for food (and  scaring the life out of me with a silent flyby )
Our Owl boxes havent been used every year though

[oor wullie]

Last year my wife twice saw a barn owl in our shed so at the next opportunity I rushed out and built 2 boxes and fitted them in the shed.
We have never seen barn owls since.....

I used the plans on the barn owl trust website which were really good and ready to follow. 

[Fleecewife]

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Owls do have a sense of humour