Welcome to The Owl Wood, Aby.
The "Owl Wood" as it is known locally is a protected area of Woodland Trust land and it's official name is "Kew Wood". It is set aside for the benefit of ... owls. Not people, not squirrels, not walkers, not charcoal burners, not bee-keepers or watchers: just owls. The nesting box in the wood is just one of over 100 made by the late Alec Blackburn and sited strategically all over Eastern Lincolnshire. These boxes have now been monitored by Alec's nephew, Adrian Blackburn, for more than 10 years.
Dog 2 thinks she may have spotted an owl in there somewhere.
Sadly, after much digging, all Dog 2 found was three dinosaur bones, a startled mole and the North-Lincs spur of the Bakerloo Tube Line.
Work is now proceeding on filling in the excavations. Consideration is being given to re-naming the reserve to "The Jackdaw Wood". Meanwhile no turn is going un-stoned in our efforts to bring you some... owls!
Toad-proof rabbit fence.
We seem to be lacking that most essential element of an owl wood at the moment: owls ... so here's a toad instead. This glum little chap was waiting at the bottom of the garden gate hoping that the rabbit-proofing would rust away so that he could hop out into the lane... Under glaring spotlights, a good beating with knuckle-dusters and two phials of Sodium Pentathol he confessed that he hadn't seen any owls lately either.
He was gently discouraged from venturing into the lane and sent back from whence he'd hopped (where the traffic is much more civilised).
Locals, bleating on...
Something seems to have caused an outbreak of lambs in the neighbourhood:
... although if you notice, the vandals with their ubiquitous spray-cans seem to have got to this lot already.
South Wold Hunt a-ridin' past
The owl wood was sitting there last Tuesday, owling and wooding, as is its wont, when the South Wold "Hunt" came flashing across the field:
Spring 2010 on the way, mayhap?
Snowdrops have invaded the Owl Wood. Armies of monstrous, huge, gallumphing snowdrops.
In the bleak Mid-Winter of 2010...
As two wise old men (Messrs Statler & Waldorf) once said... 'Call that snow? Hah!'
The Owl Wood is cold and dormant for the moment, home
only to the full moon, the grumbling ghosts and the shivering moans of the older trees. If any owls are out there - come visit (and stay), we have vacancies!
November 2009: no owls yet, just Autumn, mushrooms and ladybirds...
May 2009 Young owl walk-about!
One of the owl chicks decided to go walk-about today, five days after being ringed (see below) and was spotted in a tree adjacent to the nesting box. Given the high winds and, at times, torrential rain we've had in the past few days the chick looked remarkably unperturbed although balancing on a swaying branch was obviously a novelty yet to be fully mastered. This was as close as I dare get using a 300mm lens and a lot of photographer-wobble in today's dodgy light conditions. Fingers crossed that the other two show their faces soon too.
May 2009 - three healthy owl chicks recorded and ringed
The volunteers called again today to check on, record and ring the three healthy owl chicks living in the nesting box. Since their visit coincided with a family occasion (Harry C's 1st birthday party - Happy Birthday Harry!) the chick's inspection was a paparazzi glare of cameras and celebrity-spotters. They put up with it all very well and are now safely back in the nesting box none the worse for their exposure. Click on the small images below for a larger photo in a new window.
The procedure was identical to the earlier ringing of the adult bird - a quiet approach, up with the ladder, in and gently bag the birds. They were then given a health once-over, ringed and shown to their adoring public while the cameras clicked. After a couple of minutes under the spotlight all three chicks were then safely returned to the nesting box. The experts estimate that they have about another week or ten days before they start to leave the nesting box.
April 2009 visit by BTO Volunteers
Yesterday, April 18th 2009, we were lucky enough to be present when the team of volunteer ringers (part of the British Trust for Ornithology) arrived to tag and record the female owl currently in the nesting box in Owl Wood. Click on the small images below for a larger image in a new window.
The female owl was netted from the nesting box, checked, weighed, recorded and tagged and then we were given a fantastic opportunity to view a wild owl in close-up before she was carefully returned to the nesting box and chicks - more detail about this process on the blog. In a couple of weeks time the chicks will be checked and possibly tagged and recorded too.
What does it take to get a woodland healthy enough for owls to want to move in and breed - and stay?
Fencing (replacing old barbed wire with friendlier stuff); clearing; mulching; tree-felling; re-planting; lots of volunteer hours; a dozen contractors; two tractors; a commercial mulcher; a dozen skips and some good weather ...
