Nest Box Update

Spring is a very busy time for the bird ringers, who have already spent many evenings out and about on the training area checking the many Tawny Owl and Kestrel nest boxes. The team will be out again tonight re-visiting some of these boxes where chicks can be found.

So far we have had some interesting results from the re-trapped adults. One Tawny Owl was ringed in 2006 and has been breeding in the same box ever since. Another was first ringed as a chick, at Hudswell Grange in 2007; this is the first year she has been seen since then and was found in a different box to the one she was first ringed in. We have also had a Kestrel that has been recorded breeding in the same box for the last three years.

This just shows a small portion of the valuable information that the ringers collect and send off to the BTO. All of this is then used by the BTO to monitor population trends and to help shape conservation policies protecting these beautiful species.