A pair of barn owls have successfully bred at a new nest site in County Down, much to the delight of conservationists given the
poor breeding year for these vul-nerable birds in 2021.
Three healthy chicks were dis-covered in July at Ballycruttle Farm, a nature-friendly farm outside Downpatrick, in a nest box installed by Ulster Wildlife last winter.
Barn owls are a priority species in Northern Ireland with fewer than 30 breeding pairs found here and only a handful of known nest sites, according to the local nature conservation charity.
Loss of hunting habitat and nesting places, alongside rodenticide use, risks from road traffic, and wet and extreme weather, are the main threats to their survival.
Ulster Wildlife is working alongside RSPB NI, and farmers in County Down to halt and reverse the decline of this iconic farmland bird.
“Ballycruttle Farm has been work-ing closely with RSPB NI to improve their farm for wildlife so when they contacted us last year about putting up boxes, we saw lots of potential for barn owls given the excellent hunting and nesting habitat available,” said Katy Bell, Senior Conservation Off-icer for Ulster Wildlife.
“We were absolutely thrilled to hear that a barn owl pair had settled into one of our boxes so quickly and even more excited when we heard the characteristic rasping and snoring sound of the chicks.
“Last year was tough for barn owls, with many nest sites failing, so this is welcome news for our tiny barn owl population and bodes well for the future as, hopefully, the chicks will go on to breed.”
Dawn Stocking, owner of Bally-cruttle Farm, first heard the barn owls’ distinctive eerie screech about two years ago and was lucky to see the ghostly-white bird close up before getting help from the charity.
“Move on 18 months, I was putting my own chickens to bed one evening when ‘daddy’ flew out of the box and over my head,” she said.
“Soon after, we then started to see the chicks poking their heads out and Katy from Ulster Wildlife and Mark from RSPB NI came to investigate further.
“This has been such a fantastic experience for us. The kids have loved being involved from putting boxes up, to seeing the parents fly out for food to watching the babies being ringed.
“We are so proud to be helping with the recovery of a priority species, working alongside Ulster Wildlife and RSPB NI, and would encourage other landowners to get involved.”
Ballycruttle Farm is a haven for many different farmland birds and is part of the County Down Farmland Bird Initiative, a group project within the Environmental Farming Scheme, led by RSPB NI.
Mark McCormick, Conservation Officer for RSPB NI, who has been working alongside the farm for many years, giving advice and support, says: “We are absolutely delighted to see all the hard work carried out by Ballycruttle Farm yield such positive results.
“The seed-rich habitats maintained on the farm provide an essential winter food source for birds like the endangered yellowhammer, and also ideal territory for the barn owl to hunt for small mammal prey.
“With the addition of the nest boxes, you can see why these magnificent barn owls have decided to make Ballycruttle Farm their home to raise their young.”
The chicks, a male and two females, were ringed by licensed BTO bird ringer David Galbraith to help identify and track the birds’ movement.
Strict hygiene procedures were
followed to reduce possible trans-mission of avian influenza.
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