Barn Owl Diaries

The BirdGuides webzine featured the Barn Owl Diaries last summer. The Rushcliffe Barn Owl Project (RUBOP) have now published the Diaries in book form as a means of raising funds to help in their ongoing efforts to increase the number of Barn Owls in South Nottinghamshire. Prof. David Parkin bought a copy and liked it so much that he wrote the following review: Barn Owls have been struggling in recent years, with numbers declining in many areas. Even in places where the habitat appeared not to have altered, numbers were in decline. Suspecting that the cause might be loss of nesting sites as barns were modernised (or converted to bijou weekend retreats for the affluent), conservationists began experimenting with nest boxes in places where the bird had been lost. This delightful little book is the story of one such group, based in Rushcliffe – which is one of the local ‘borough’ councils of Nottinghamshire.

Founded in the late 1990s, RUBOP began in a small way: a few enthusiasts to do the field work, a grant from the council to buy timber, and carpenters from the local prison to build the boxes! Over the years, the project expanded, until now there are over 150 boxes across the borough. The book describes the events of 2007: a very successful year when over 150 young owls fledged successfully. Written in diary form, it relates the triumphs (and occasional tragedies) recorded by Howard and his mates as they work round the boxes, from counting eggs, through recording hatching success, to weighing, measuring and ringing the fledglings.

Illustrated with some excellent photographs, and enlivened by Mike Warren’s sketches, this is a lovely piece of work. Read it and you won’t learn much about Barn Owl biology, but you will appreciate the enthusiasm of the RUBOP team for their birds. Through their efforts, they have raised the local population to a level that is probably as high as it has ever been.

Buy a copy now. You will have an entertaining read, and a warm glow from knowing that the profits will be channelled directly into Barn Owl conservation.