The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Excellent presentation given by Bob Sheppard at the national Barn Owl Symposium last weekend, regarding the increase in the Barn Owl population in Lincolnshire over the last twenty years.
The estimated population in Lincolnshire is now a minimum of 900 pairs, with probably 8,000 pairs nationwide. A great reward for those who have been actively involved in Barn Owl conservation, and thier hard work in erecting nest-boxes in suitable locations within areas of good habitat.

Alan

I was somewhat suprised by these figures Alan because the impression you get when moving around some areas of Lincolnshire and coastal Norfolk is that Barn Owls are much more common than figures suggest. What are the worst areas I wonder to see them? They must be scarce

The figures do seem to show how fragile nature can be The conservation work is a credit to all concerned

Further to your comment, Chris, I was on a Ringing Training Course at Flatford Mill on the Suffolk/Essex border about 5 years ago. Being used to good numbers of Barn Owls in my home area, I was amazed that a ringed Barn Owl caught on the Course was the first ever record of the species at that site. It transpired that it had been ringed the other side of the River Orwell as a nestling the year before, one of only six nestlings ringed in Essex that year. I don't know what the population is there now but it made me realize just how lucky we are in Lincolnshire.