Barn owl pair hatch three adorable owlets
I ASKED Stuart Card and Jake Everitt, Countryside Wardens at Warnham Nature Reserve in Horsham to drop by last Wednesday to check the owl box on Wetlands Discovery island here at Arundel Wetland Centre. Stuart and Jake are is a bird ringers, licensed to work with Schedule One birds like barn owls which are protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act.
In the nest box, Stuart and
Jake discovered three female owlets about 47 days old, and almost ready to fledge! This trio will soon begin branching, taking short hops to clamber around on nearby trees.
This is the second year barn owls chicks have been recorded at Arundel Wetland Centre. We put up this owl nest box 6 years ago on an island in our Wetlands Discovery area. We put in a second owl box three years ago, 100 feet away from the first.
This second box was for the adults to roost in case the owls bred – growing chicks tend to crowd the adults out of the nest.
Barn owls roost and hunt on the reserve in most winters. Two years ago we had an owl pair here in spring but no sign of any young. Then spring of 2018 my Bushnell camera recorded owls using the box. Stuart’s checks found two owl chicks, the first ever recorded here
We are grateful Stuart and
Jake were able to volunteer their time to ring the owlets as they’re busy in owl breeding season!