Saw worse than 'nothing' tonight...

[RacingSnake]

I'm getting pretty used to sitting & seeing nothing for hours now...
but I went back to one of my Barn owl sites tonight, the view is getting really obstructed as the trees are growing over.

Nevertheless I shuffled around until I could see a relatively clear view of the box...

Unfortunately, it didn't look good

No sign of the owls
I've reported it to the "liaison officer" who is going to check it out tomorrow with the chairman.
I last was at the site on the 30th, and they were present then.

View attachment 36976

 

[Joeturner11]

When they were present was there two owls trying to breed? They may have not liked the location and moved on...I know how you feel my local Dipper nest this weeks turns out a couple of days before they were going to fledge they have been killed by a suspected Heron

 

[RacingSnake]

No Joe, it was a confirmed breeding pair.

The worry is that the front of the owl box is missing, even if they had moved on, the box would be intact.
The liaison officer said they had done a site check about 2 weeks ago and it was ok, and I'd seen them just over a week ago, so they were still around.

I'm in touch with the local birding & conservation groups to see if we can nail down a last confirmed sighting.... obviously the concern is that the eggs/young have been stolen

 

[fracster]

My resident barn owl has moved out of the barn ,I hope it has found a mate,though it is a bit late.

Doesn`t look good if the box has been damaged Gav.

 

[RacingSnake]

Doesn`t look good if the box has been damaged Gav.

The police have been down there today, apparently there is an absence of trampled nettles leading to the box, so think anything deliberate is unlikely.
Suggestions are, clever corvids, or wear and tear.
*maybe* the former, but not convinced on the latter.
I have a pic I took on the 6th April which shows the left peg already raised, so the cover was only secured on a single lock.

I therefore assume that's the end of the investigation

View attachment 37216

 

[Byker28i]

On the positive side, maybe the door fell off and they didn't like the room with a view. Doesn't look like the landlord has done any repairs, or could be contacted and so they've moved on?

 

[RacingSnake]

Ok. heard back again, it's not being pursued - to be fair, it would be bordering on impossible to know what happened

So we're putting up wildlife crime posters around the site (for what it's worth).

There are 2 other active boxes on the reserve, so fingers crossed they remain that way!