Toward the end of last year, we purchased three owl boxes to go up at Yew View. We got these from a local company; The Barn Owl Centre in Gloucester. You can check out their website at www.barnowl.co.uk.
I have spent time mounting cameras inside these boxes, so we will be able to follow the stories of any residents in the coming year.
Today Vince, the owner of The Barn Owl Centre, very kindly offered to come out to Yew View to help me get the boxes up in place. These boxes are big and pretty heavy and he is an expert on getting the boxes into place.
We started with the Little Owl box. Little Owls have been seen onsite, up at the top end of the garden, near the fruit frames and greenhouse. We decided that a Spruce tree within the hen run was the most suitable place for the box to go, facing out into the surrounding farmland.
The Little Owl Box has a tunnel type entrance. This should also deter squirrels and other birds from entering with twigs….. we’ll have to wait and see!
Once we had this first box up, it was off to Tawny Box 1. We chose to mount this box on a mature tree at the very top of the garden,. Clearing some ivy from the tree, Vince created a spot on which to mount the bracket for the box.It was then a matter of climbing up the ladder with it on his shoulder…. something I simply do not have the strength to do!
Once the box was in place, I climbed up to wire up the IR lighting and take some pictures to show what a great abode it is for owls…. I SO hope a tawny agrees!
Our final box was another Tawny Box. This one has a purpose-built housing on one side, in which there is a Vivotek HD cam (like I have in my Mammal Box). This box is the highest, as we had to find a flat part of the tree and get it facing in the right direction. After some rather precarious balancing past some branches, Vince secured this box in place and then I was straight up the ladder to wire in the lighting again and get a Tawny’s eye view of the surrounding landscape…. surely they will love this box! We know that tawnies sit in this tree, so fingers crossed they will take a look!
Talking of Tawnies… I was pretty surprised when I captured one sitting on my little Kingfisher perch!
Tomorrow, I am back to get the cabling in and attached to the icatcher console, so we can monitor and film any visitors! It is all very exciting ad I truly hope a tawny, in particular, finds our new boxes.
We also plan to get a Barn Owl box and a kestrel box up in the coming month…. :o)