What a hoot! Owls make their mark on landscape

11:03am Friday 6th October 2006

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CONSERVATION chiefs are over the moon as barn owl sightings soar in and around Worcester.

The Worcester Barn Owl Conservation Group made an appeal in August for people to notify them of single birds, pairs and nesting sites, and spokesman Roy Fowler said they were delighted with the response.

The group - which is licensed by English Nature to inspect nest sites and record numbers in the wild - received reports from more than 20 people, with the birds being particularly prevalent in Hanbury, Bradley Green and Crowle.

Mr Fowler said the response came after a less successful appeal made at the end of May, in which only two reports of sightings were made. He said: "The response to the appeal in the Worcester News has been fantastic. We're pushing all the time to get people enthusiastic towards the barn owl as it's a very high-profile bird."

Mr Fowler said 80 per cent of the sightings were in areas where they were aware they had nest boxes The information is used to examine how far barn owls have spread and where the offspring head to.

He said the disappointing aspect was that only three young had been discovered in the 34 nest boxes sited around the area. He blamed the rainy spring weather for the small number of chicks, leaving the owls short of food sources such as voles. Normally, about 25 per cent of the nests have young in them.

Group representatives were at Malvern's Three Counties Showground last month where they handed out about 150 sighting forms. They are now hoping for an even better the response to the latest appeal.

People can report sightings of barn owls by calling either Roy on 01905 22968 or Adrian Hughes on 01905 778791.