Terrible Year For Barn Owls……

So, evidence from around the country has suggested a very poor breeding season in 2025 for Barn Owls. Colleagues in Warwickshire, Cornwall, Buckinghamshire and Suffolk have all reported very little evidence of breeding and many usually productive sites are not occupied.

I have visited 36 nest boxes so far around the Goodwood, Leconfield and Duke of Norfolks Estates in West Sussex and so far have only seen 5 barn owls - all adults that have flown from nest sites but with only one pair showing breeding effort with 2 warm eggs in the corner of the nest box.

2 warm barn owl eggs in a box in the top of a barn on the Leconfield Estate

I suspect next week will not yield much but will keep you all updated.

I did have some excitement today in the form of a cherry picker expertly operated by Russell at the Goodwood Estate.

View coming down from a nest box in a walnut tree.