Owls & Birds of Prey

A Talk by Adrian Blackburn

 

The 14th of March meeting greeted Adrian Blackburn of the British Trust for Ornithology who had kindly agreed to give a presentation of his work with Owls and other birds of prey.

Adrian has been working with The BTO and Owls in particular since moving to the area in 1969 and has developed a network of over 1000 nesting boxes and baskets for many of the species around Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, all of which he checks and monitors for nesting birds. This taken many days and it has been known for Adrian to drive over 2000 mile in 2 weeks just checking the boxes in Lincolnshire, and that doesn't include the mileage from his home in Retford..

It is a pertinent fact that many of the natural nesting sites for Barn Owls in Nottinghamshire have been lost, because the old farm buildings and the like have been demolished and/or replaced by the modern tin clad variety that leaves little or no potential for a Barn Owl to nest. Where as in Lincolnshire many of these old building have been left, and though they may still be in use the very dilapidated state offers ideal nesting sites especially with a little help from one of Adrian's indoor nesting boxes. Even with the new buildings some farmers will leave a suitable access hole for the Barn Owls to find a nesting site. It has been suggested that the number of nesting birds on a farm leads to competition between neighbouring farmers.

Adrian's talk was illustrated by a good number of slides of the birds he has caught and ringed and speaking from a personal view afforded the ideal way of being able to see the details on all of the birds. I have to say that the only wild owl I have had the pleasure to see was a Little Owl who we drove past on our way out to lunch, and was still on its straw bail on our way back, so we stopped and watched it watching us for about 5 minutes before it flew off, presumably to look for its own lunch.

Many thanks to Adrian for a wonderful talk.

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