Kestrel chick - c 3 weeks old
Cosy in there!
It looks like it's going to be a good year for Kestrels - Dave already has over 10 active nests to the west of our area which in addition to other boxes and sites means a potential 50 - 60 chicks to ring. Within the LDV we've found just three sites so far, but hopefully there'll be more to come - it's just a matter of getting out there and finding them!
At a farm which has been used for many years, two new boxes had been put up - the owner was most pleased that we found a female Kestrel with 4 newly hatched chicks, plus a pair of Barn Owls (we managed to catch them both in the box) which had 4 eggs and a newly hatched chick. We look forward to going back and ringing them with her - it’s nice to be able to share it with the landowners especially when they’ve gone to the trouble of putting their own boxes up.
Barn Owl - lightly spotted female
Barn Owl - light coloured male
A Jackdaw which was almost ready to fly was caught in a box in the afternoon, plus a new adult Barn Owl and a re-trap, a few other eggs and newly hatched chicks were also found. Disappointingly a few of the sites we’d marked down that have had Barn Owls breeding in the past had been taken over by Feral Pigeons - much to the frustration of the landowners!
On Thursday we were joined by two short-term contractors for the summer (Sam
& Marie - who are going to be helping out with the ragwort this year). After
studying for three years doing a Marine Biology and Ecology degree between
them they’re now both looking for jobs in conservation. We took them on a quick
tour of the valley so that they could get their bearings and we checked a
couple of boxes on the way - and much to their delight we found two broods of
Barn Owl chicks (both with 4 - the biggest clutches yet).
Craig showing Sam & Marie the Barn Owl chicks
Happy!
At a few of the other sites we: re-trapped a female from a previous year, found
an un-ringed adult female with 6 eggs, another with 4 eggs and a newly hatched
chick, plus 3 Jackdaws almost ready for fledging!
Sam & Lucy ringing an adult female
A family of four
A Jackdaw each
Young Jackdaw - stunning blue eye
Back at the office the brood of 8 Great Tits were ready for ringing so we
did those before heading off to check the duck trap, there we managed to catch
4 Mallard ducklings. Together with the ones that Craig & Mike had already done over the
last few days that takes us to 25 for the month so far!
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