Wildlife on the farm.

tinman

Very Senior Member
as i see the lads talking about birds on another thread the thought occurred to me,
I never hardly hear an owl round these parts now a days, i think i used to hear them at night, but not for an age now have i heard one.
are they scarce now?
or am i just not in the right neck of the woods to be hearing them??
 
Havent heard any meself in a long long time, pity cos they would be cool to have around:thumbup1:: Heard stories where lads would be out lamping and the next thing a owl would glide in right over their head, nearly hitting them. They reckon it would hop the sh1te of ya as ya dont hear them coming at all!
 
very rarely hear one at home in zummerzet, but theres a tawny near the camp here in grantham,
praps they have too much competition now from the raptors???
at home we have plenty of normal birds, rabbits and deer, shit loads of buzzards, and the stinking badger.. and some mangy old reynaurds..
 
http://www.theowlbox.co.uk/

get on here if your looking to attract owls. he lives down the road, has a garden full of rescued ones, really genuine fella, not the sandal wearer you imagine with a sanctuary!:laugh: well kitted out workshop too!

got a barn owl box off him, put it up and next thing you know, there's a barn owl about! he understands what kind of space different owls like, tawny box is compleatly different from a barn owl box!

and Eirie, they do scare the living crud out of you when they fly out of a barn unexpectedly, don't hear a thing just a swoosh as it skims past ya! :scared::scared:
 
Hear plenty here, day and night. Mostly Tawny Owls.
Did you know the classic "Twit Twoo" call of the owl is actually two owls.
Can't remember which one is which as far as male and female goes but one shouts "Twit" and its mate replies "Twoo" (that is true)
In the summer the chicks perch in my garden and squark/hiss all night. I don't notice it much but have known Fred to open his bedroom window and shout at them "will you please just feck off!" :lol:

Taken out of my bedroom window

[YOUTUBE]cxvPfDohRUY[/YOUTUBE]
 
:

Taken out of my bedroom window

[YOUTUBE]cxvPfDohRUY[/YOUTUBE]

Thats some increadibly rare footage - I've read a bit about Barn Owls and how researchers tell their diet from the pellets they cough up at roost sites. The vast majority of pellet remains consist of various types of rodents and shrews with the very occasional small bird. In some places bats feature, never heard of any pheasant remains being found though - did that bird get away Apple since I heard the sound of something taking off at the end of that vid??

PS: There should be a good few Barn Owl nest cams coming on stream again this year on various wildlife web-sites. The one I kept an eye on last year showed the parents feeding the chicks exclusivly on young rats, mice and the odd vole.
 
We find allot of pellets around, so they must be about, lamb creep feeders attract them, as there's usually field mice around them, and the roof makes a nice dinner plate!

used to hear a tawny fairly regularly, even found a chick on the ground once.

big talk with them over here is that their killed on the A55, attracted by the mice and rats on the rubbish in the verges and get caught out by wagons passing.
 
The Barn Owl didn't really attack a pheasant, it just seemed that way when I watched the tape back and heard the pheasant.
I think it was after a mouse. What did surprise me on that occasion was that the owl stayed on the ground and went hunting. It eventually emerged from the hedge which is quite a way from where it landed. Not miles away obviously but a lot further than I expected it to run around on the ground.
They nested in an owl box put up especially for them. Quite a treat to have them breeding on the place and nice to watch them too.
They were in the field outside the window most evenings.
 
Not the best of quality because they it is always dusk.

1gxg.jpg
 
nice picture, one animal i always like to see about, rescued a tawny, i think it was once, on my way home it was in the middle of the road, my guess was it was hit by a car, it was pretty limp, i took it back wrapped in a coat and put it in a stable with a heat lamp, leaving the top door open, morning it was sat up in their, on seeing me it flew out and was off, when ever i see one nr where i found it i wonder if it is the same one.
 
Well I up at sunrise each morning to give crows and magpies there daily dose of lead, so im doing my bit, got 5 this morning with 3 bullets :Thumbp2:

Pheasant numbers seem reduced around here this year and thankfully those bastard protected starlings have not arrived.
 
:ohmy: Is this the best we are doing for wildlife within 5 years, 11 posts :sad:
Fair point.

@Agri Power I can beat that. Got 6 mag pies with one shot last year. And 3 on another occasion. Their population is still far to strong here.
And to top it off Mink have been spoted in a local river!

Do many lads go out too keep the local bad birds down? Its hard to get time but like to think it helps the songbird population as we have pleanty of them.
 
Pine Martin is a major problem around here. A neighbour shot one last week as it attacked a ewe that was caught in a briar. They have the household hen virtually eliminated in these parts too.

Crows and mags are noticeably less around here in the last few years, especially in winter. There's always a few around at silage time but they don't seem to be around the sheds anymore. We used to feed meal at the barrier but now have half pipe troughs that can be lifted in and out daily.
 
A lot less trouble from pigeons in oilseed rape since buzzard numbers increased and also less rabbits.I have no evidence of them going for lambs, grey crows and herring gulls are a far bigger menace imo. I often see a barn owl when lambing and plenty of pellets around.
 
A lot less trouble from pigeons in oilseed rape since buzzard numbers increased and also less rabbits.I have no evidence of them going for lambs, grey crows and herring gulls are a far bigger menace imo. I often see a barn owl when lambing and plenty of pellets around.
Interested to hear that about them not going for lambs. I know birdwatch Ireland are adamant that they don't attack lambs but ita an accusation you do hear around a bit.
Also heard a local gun club member say that they have hit the pheasant population so I hope that doesn't cause any issues in future
 
Pine Martin is a major problem around here. A neighbour shot one last week as it attacked a ewe that was caught in a briar. They have the household hen virtually eliminated in these parts too.

Crows and mags are noticeably less around here in the last few years, especially in winter. There's always a few around at silage time but they don't seem to be around the sheds anymore. We used to feed meal at the barrier but now have half pipe troughs that can be lifted in and out daily.

I've never seen a pine Martin in the flesh, would it be a lot bigger than a stoat of a weasel then ?? Must be a fair size I'm guessing to take on a ewe !!
 
A few from over the years I have managed to come across
 

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I've never seen a pine Martin in the flesh, would it be a lot bigger than a stoat of a weasel then ?? Must be a fair size I'm guessing to take on a ewe !!

Identical to a mink in size shape and stature. Different to the mink only by having a white neck and very sharp long teeth. We caught one in the mink cage when he came back for seconds with my mothers hens. He would hiss and snail at you if you went within 5 meters of the cage.

Dangerous animal. A lot of people believe that it's only a matter of time before they attack a human. It's not that they will go out to attack a human but may do so in defence of themselves or their young.

Needless to say we rehomed him. They are protected over here
 
Does anyone want crows,the shotgun seems to multiply them:2guns:
Have noticed a field near my house lately with power lines running along the edge of it at a roadside and between the power lines and the ground the crows seem to number in the thousands some evenings. Must try get a picture some day.
 
Fair point.

@Agri Power I can beat that. Got 6 mag pies with one shot last year. And 3 on another occasion. Their population is still far to strong here.
And to top it off Mink have been spoted in a local river!

Do many lads go out too keep the local bad birds down? Its hard to get time but like to think it helps the songbird population as we have pleanty of them.

Trap mags and crows around the yard to keep the young chickens safe and also coming up to lambing. Must say my WBC is proving popular this winter with big numbers of finches and other wee birds feeding in it. Nice to see. Local bird group put up some kestrel and owl boxes in one of the old sheds out the back so hopefully something comes out of that later in the year.
 
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