Linacre Ringing - 7th May 2018

Last weekend I had a quick trip to Linacre to check on the progress of the "owl" boxes, following our successful trip there on 21st April (see here for details). The results were mixed, with a new species ringed and one deserted nest.

First the good news. The Tawny Owl that had been found in one of the boxes in April, had been successful and 2 downy chicks were found and ringed by me and other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. This constitutes the first breeding of this species in one of the "owl" boxes.

Tawny Owl chicks

Another female Mandarin Duck was also found in a second box, incubating eggs. She too was ringed.

Mandarin Duck

Unfortunately, the Stock Dove nest that was found in April had failed, with 2 broken eggs in the bottom of the box. We don't know what happened to the adult birds, but they may have been disturbed or killed by a predator, such as a Grey Squirrel.

Results from these nests will be forwarded to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.