Hi and welcome to my Blog, my name is Paul Riddle and I live in south Leicestershire, UK. Back in August 2007 my quest began to locate as many local Little Owl territories as possible. The driving force was a reported decline in the uk numbers so I thought I would do my bit and conduct a study in my area. After 7 years and countless hours out in the field I have detected over 200 different sites. With a thirst for a greater understanding of the owls a more comprehensive monitoring and nest box programme then commenced. This also now includes monitoring the local and very sparse population of Barn Owls, please pop back occasionally and catch up with the life and times of my owls and any other wildlife that I come across. I hope you enjoy your visit!!!

Friday 23 January 2015

Production........

Hi all,

Not one birding or owl encounter of any description to report since my last post, the weather has been foul which just hasn't allowed me to get out to check on any. However, I'm not one for sitting around and doing nothing, oh no! So instead Col and I have been very productive and made the most of our recent limited outdoor access?  

We have been very fortunate in as much that a local land owner friend "acquired" some old crates and asked if they would be any good for converting into owl boxes? We went over to have a look at them and couldn't believe our luck when we checked them out. They were just the right shape and size for Barn Owls, albeit with them only being 6mm ply they are not really suited for outdoor use but absolutely perfect for use inside a building/barn. So for two evenings this week we set about the challenge of cleaning them up and converting them into owl boxes.

As can be seen in this image (very dodgy quality as it was taken with my i-phone) our task has almost been completed with sixteen being made so far. 


Although Col doesn't know (until he reads this of course) that our job is only really half done, we now need to get all the boxes erected..........by the end of February!!!

Catch up soon folks.........


6 comments:

  1. http://waldlaeufer68.blogspot.de/p/blog-page.html

    Hi paul,
    great idea, and I had bad weather started my saw and built eight crates, good luck about to greet frank




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  2. You didn't tell me that when we were making them buddy.......lol, lets get them up mate and hope to break last years record!!

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  3. A very impressive array of boxes, Paul. I'm sure your work will be making a great difference to the breeding future of owls. Keep up the good work!!!

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