Ringed our last two known broods of Barn Owls this week (and at only half grown – they will still be dependent upon their parents into December!).
The numbers of chicks, thought to have fledged from nests monitored by Bob Sheppard and me during 2008, are as follows.
Total.......Brood Size.....Fledged 31............Fail..................0 12.............1..................12 46.............2..................92 44.............3.................132 11.............4..................44 6...............5..................30 1...............6...................6 151.........total................316
The success rates varied across the county, with central areas doing reasonably well. The low-lying fenland areas were particularly poor, perhaps as a result of last years flooding affecting available prey. Most of the 20% failures were from these fenland areas early in the season, and the majority of these pairs had already failed at egg and/or early chick stage prior to our monitoring visits.
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