Barn Owl chicks at our Stratford-Upon-Avon Field of Life

In the first week of May we erected a barn owl box in a mature oak tree at our 5-acre green space shortly after planting trees to start the creation of Barn Owl Wood. This particular tree was chosen as it was isolated, in a well establish hedgerow and was a tree with a thick trunk. We placed the nest box at 3 metres above ground level that overlooked open habitat, in the hope it would attract one of our feathered friends of the countryside.

During a routine visit from volunteers of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to survey owls by checking owl boxes in the area, we made an amazing discovery. We found a hen owl (female owl) with her 7 barn own chicks and 1 egg.  

The brood of chicks were less than 2 weeks old as the young hatch at two to three-day intervals and were all at different stages. Our local owl experts also revealed that this had been a much better year for barn owls in the Warwickshire area compared to last year and some barn owl pairs that had successful early broods (eggs laid in April) may attempt second broods during the late summer/autumn.

We now await another inspection of the box in the coming months to check on their health and discover the sex of the brood.  

This amazing finding was music to our ears as we begin creating the green space into a biodiverse, wildlife rich area with 2 wildlife ponds, butterfly banks, a forest garden and wildflower meadow.

We give thanks to Roger, John and Ros from BTO for their knowledge and expertise and Arden Farm Wildlife Network and Zoe Bell as without the funding from Tesco Bags of Help, which was secured by Ian Jelley and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust we wouldn't have been able to make this possible.