How the CRT is helping barn owls to thrive

We’re celebrating the success of our barn owls at Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset. One of the British countryside’s most iconic species, we are delighted to report they have bred again at the farm this year.  

Catching a glimpse of an adult barn quartering over the fields at dawn or dusk is one of nature’s finest spectacles. 

This year we believe there were six eggs laid and one chick has already fledged. Luckily, we were able to capture this delightful photo of it enjoying its first few days outside the nest.  

The success of the Bere Marsh barn owls is largely down to our supporters. In 2020, we reached out to the public to help us renovate the roof of a dilapidated barn - now known as BOB for Barn Owl Barn - and the following Spring the barn owls moved in and have nested there ever since. 

The fields around the barn are nature-friendly and contain plenty of bank voles, field voles, shrews, and wood mice for them to feed on. 

Jenny Ashdown, Assistant Conservation Officer - Dorset, said: “The barn is solely for the use of the barn owls. The floor has been specially arranged with sticks and debris to entice rodents in because this allows the owls to continue hunting indoors in wet weather. 

“This year, our monitoring equipment showed us there were six eggs in the nest, but the equipment has since failed and as we want to avoid disturbing the owls, we can't yet fix it.  

Jenny revealed that we will access the barn in November, when the parents have moved out until they return for the next breeding season. 

“Currently there is a lot of noise coming from the barn, so clearly there are more chicks inside, and we’re regularly seeing the parents out hunting to feed their brood.” 

Jenny said without the public’s support to repair the barn, it would not have been habitable for the barn owls. 

“Barn owls are a keystone indicator species of a healthy eco-environment,” she says. “From a human perspective, they are amazing to watch. They are an apex, or top predator, so they help keep the ecosystem balanced, meaning we don’t get overrun with rodents. They eat mammals such as voles and shrews so they perform invaluable ecosystem services by controlling small mammal numbers.” 

You can read more about the task of restoring BOB here.

And watch our video to find hear CRT community engagement officer Nick Dobbs talking about the barn owls at Bere Marsh Farm.

How you can help 

We can’t do it without you. If you want to help us protect local wildlife, like the barn owl, you can support the CRT in any number of ways, from joining as a CRT Friend to volunteering on one of our farms and attending our events. You can also sign-up to our monthly newsletter 'CRT News' for regular updates from our farms, straight to your inbox. 

Published: July, 2024