Barn owl wildlife webcam

As winter gives way to spring, and with it the arrival of longer days, there appears to be nesting activity once again in the Lorton Meadows barn owl box. Unfortunately, it is not a barn owl pair. However, a pair of stock doves have laid their eggs in the box instead. Although there was a barn owl active on the nature reserve at times this winter, it seems that individual has not attracted a mate, or may have moved on. There are several possibilities, and it has been a particularly difficult winter for barn owls nationwide, in part due to the constant wind and rain, which hamper their efforts to hunt.

Stock doves are a relatively common species and are the same size and shape as the feral pigeons we see in towns, though smaller than wood pigeons. They breed in wooded areas or old farm buildings (such as those at Lorton Meadows), so it’s not surprising to see them move into the owl box. Two eggs are usual, and incubation takes up to 18 days. Both the male and female care for the young, and the chicks (known as squabs) are fed on a special milk that forms in the parents’ crop. They can have up to three broods in a good year.

Although we would have expected barn owls to be established in the box over the winter, there is still a slim possibility that this could happen, and in exceptionally good food years an established pair may start breeding late. So there is every reason to keep an eye on the box in the coming weeks.

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