It has been an unusual year for nesting Barn Owls.
It seems that, on average, nest sites in the Midlands have been unusually late, while sites on the west coast and far south-west have been significantly earlier - the reverse of the norm. Quite what has caused this is difficult to ascertain, though a notably cold April and May may have had an impact.
Another strange development is, despite the western sites being a little early this year, many of the traditional and previously productive sites in those areas have failed, or been abandoned.
It seems too that the fantastic summer weather has favoured those pairs that did get to nest, with brood sizes and survival being high. Certainly, in many of the later visits to sites, there was an abundance of surplus mice and vole prey around the nests.
A healthy brood of three Barn Owl chicks in a newly-used nest box, Co. Cork, August 2018.
In Kerry, where brood size was accurately known, the average brood size was 2.55, slightly higher than the yearly average of about 2.2 chicks per nest.
In Cork, this figure was higher again at an average 3.14 per nest.
Fledgling Barn Owl, at a about 60 days of age, and just about ready to leave its' nest box, Co. Cork, August 2018.
Despite the loss of some sites, there has been further uptake of new nest boxes around the country, showing the value of providing safe and secure nest sites. More soon...
