The Lincolnshire Bird Club

The annual check today of the 22 Barn Owl boxes in the Binbrook area was very poor to say the least. A pair flew from one of the boxes but there were no eggs or young and that was it! Nearly all the boxes had been taken over by Jackdaws and I'm wondering whether Barn Owls have found alternative sites or, I suspect, their population has been dramatically reduced in this part of the county.

Stuart,

Unfortunately it's not just your area - it's bad right across Lincolnshire. It's not just that they're not breeding - they are not there. I'm guessing that around 80% have not survived the prolonged winter. This year has put us back 20 years in terms of Barn Owl conservation and I wonder how long it will take them to recover.

Alan

Sad news but not unexpected given the weather conditions through march april,
I am seeing very few on the coast and none in the 7 nest boxes along the sea defences
as yet ,
regards John

My experience in NW Lincolnshire is that many regular pairs are present. I don't know of the breeding status of most of these birds, though our own pair is on six eggs or perhaps young by now. This situation is in strong contrast to 2011, when numbers within five miles of here were down by around 80% following the cold of December 2010 - the very quick recovery from that has surprised me (perhaps some had moved away rather than died) but I am far from expert on Barn Owls.

It would be interesting to hear of their current populations elsewhere in the north of the county.

Andrew

Not all a disaster.

In the past couple of weeks 4 broods in boxes found in the Horncastle area have been ringed. A total of 9 chicks ringed from those 4 broods, 2x3chicks, 1x2chicks, 1x1chick.