Winter Clearing

I met with Sarah and Justin at noon at The Slindon Estate Yard before the winds picked up and the rain came in and we managed to get to five of their Barn Owl boxes to clear them out ready for 2026.

One of the boxes had been full to above the top of the entrance hatch (see 16th June 2025).

It had 2 stock dove eggs perched on top of the leaves when i peered inthe entrance hole in June so we had left them to hatch.

Today, I managed to clear it all out and left a lovely base of shredded pellets on the floor of the box. Hopefully there will be more room now to allow a pair of owls to move in.

Barn Owl box cleared out today

The box below on the edge of a woodland area had a fabulous nest above the entrance hole - maybe a wasp or a hornet?

Wasp or Hornet nest