Slindon National Trust Estate - still no owls.

I met with Katie (Lead Ranger at Slindon NT Estate) this morning to check 5 of their 6 Barn Owl boxes.

It was a beautiful morning with no wind and sun filled the sky. We set out to a strong hold box (9 meters high) at a beautiful barn, but sadly there was no evidence of recent pellets or signs of mouting adults. Katie had seen an owl in the area a couple of weeks previously but no sign of them attempting to breed this year.

The following 4 boxes were inhabited by Stock Doves- 2 warm eggs each. The photos below show the inside of one of the boxes which is need of a clear out - you can see a layer of barn owl pellets from previous breeding attempts, then a large amount of leaf litter - probably squirrel drey and on top of the mattress of leaves were 2 Stock Dove eggs. This box will need to be visited in the winter months to clear it out and create some room for owls to move in hopefully.

Barn owl box full of nesting material.

Two warm Stock Doves eggs on a mattress of leaves.

Tomorrow, I will be heading South nearer to the coast.