Tawny Owls and Grey Herons

Friday, May 6th 2022

With the bird breeding season well underway the members of the Swaledale Ringing Team are extremely busy. Owl boxes have been checked and although the news is better than last year, the results are still disappointing.

Inside some nests food was plentiful. Two of these chicks had already hatched an a third egg was just beginning to hatch as can be seen here!

Later on the same day, older chicks were found in a new box that has been kindly donated by the Hawk and Owl Trust. They were just big enough to ring and were in 'fine fettle'!

A Heron chick was also ringed thanks to Sean Stockdale from Yorkshire Tree Specialists who climbed a conifer tree to the nest. The chick was carefully lowered to the ground to be ringed and then was put safely back in it's tree top abode!

Each year any information about breeding Grey Herons on the MOD land in Catterick is sent to the BTO as part of the Heronries Census. The aim of this longstanding project is to collect counts of 'apparently occupied nests' (aon) of herons, egrets and other colonial waterbirds from as many heronries as possible in the United Kingdom each year. Its Grey Heron data represent the longest-running monitoring data set for any breeding bird in the world.

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Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve is now OPEN

Monday 4th November 2024 |

The security gate and it's safety features are to be working, so we're reopening to the public.

However the intercom and remote gate opening system is currently non-functional. Entry and exit to the reserve will therefore take place via key fobs which will be issued to visitors when they sign in at the Cambrai Lines front entrance. These fobs can be used to open the gate when entering and exiting the reserve. They must be returned to the front entrance pass office upon exiting the reserve.

Please note access will be limited by the number of fobs available. You may therefore be turned away at the pass office if all fobs are in use at that time. Please only collect one fob per visiting group and ensure you enter and exit the reserve together.

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https://foxglovecovert.org.uk/about/frequently-asked-questions/