Choose your FREE gifts here Spend £50 get 1 free gift | Spend £85 get 2 free gifts

Shipping - UK delivery Free P&P over £75 Last posting date for Xmas: 20 December

Enjoy a trip to Robert's gallery in Thixendale | New exhibition Visiting info - Opening times - Directions

Occupied - At Last

Occupied - At Last

Occupied - At Last


This week I discovered a barn owl has laid four eggs for the first time in a nesting box that I put up 18 years ago! It doesn't normally take this long for them to use the boxes I put up for them.
This is one of the first of many nest boxes I have erected over the years. It went up in farm buildings close to a spot where I had watched barn owls as a teenager. The elm tree that they nested in at the time fell down and I wanted to provide them with somewhere new - but they didn't appreciate my efforts. At least until now.
It just goes to show how unpredictable wildlife is. Some nest boxes are occupied within a year, but this really is the longest I've ever had to wait.
I've been involved in a charity, The Wolds Barn Owl Group, which erects barn owl nesting boxes on farmland across North Yorkshire for some years now. Two years ago my efforts were featured on Look North. To find out more take a look at this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/content/articles/2007/06/01/barn_owl_feature.shtml

Related Posts

Long-tailed tit | Limited edition print | Shop nowLong-tailed tits...
Photographing a black grouse lekOne of the most incredible wildlife...
Now is the time to put up a nest box...
It's Valentine’s Day soon. Perhaps you’ll buy a card, choose...

2 comments

Wonderful pictures !

The villager:,

Well done for not taking the box down then! Owls are beautiful and you are so lucky to be able to see them at such close quarters. Love your art by the way.

pencilportraits,

Leave a comment

Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.