Nestcam Diary 2014
December 2014
22nd – no birds appear to be visible from either camera this morning.
Wishing all our viewers a very peaceful Solstice, merry Christmas and a happy New Year from all of us here at the Barn Owl Trust.
15th – normal service resumes, with only one bird visible via Barncam on a beam at the back of the barn this morning.
10th – despite only one bird being recorded at roost daily on the beams in the barn since the turn of the month, there is a pair in the nestbox this morning.
November 2014
28th – a single roosting bird is on a beam to the left of the nestbox this morning, viewable on Barncam.
21st – only one Barn Owl at roost in the barn this afternoon.
12th – a single bird is at roost in the barn today.
5th – after a delay last month in getting the computer back up and running (apologies), this morning sees the pair canoodling in the nestbox.
October 2014
6th – only one owl visible via Nestcam this morning.
3rd – October begins as September left off, with two Barn Owls at roost in the barn.
September 2014
24th – still two birds in the barn this morning; one on the back beam, and the other at roost on, rather than in, the nestbox.
16th – the pair has been roosting in the barn every day this week and is there again today.
9th – several reports were received over the weekend of a second bird roosting in the barn with the usual individual. We’re not sure whether this is just the other adult that’s now decided to roost with its mate, or a newly arrived juvenile in dispersal, although some canoodling in the nestbox tends to suggest the former. Both are in the barn this morning.
4th – no change in behaviour, with a Barn Owl in the nestbox again this morning.
August 2014
26th – as seems to be the case most days at the moment, a Barn Owl is at roost in the barn this morning.
11th – a presumed adult is again at roost in the nestbox this morning.
1st – a Barn Owl is at roost in the nestbox this afternoon.
July 2014
24th – a ringed Barn Owl is in the nestbox this morning.
18th – a Barn Owl is again at roost in the barn this afternoon, sitting on one of the beams. Probably the same bird was in the nestbox yesterday afternoon at about 4.25pm.
16th – a ringed Barn Owl was recorded foot scraping in the nestbox. Although it looked male, this behaviour is typical of a broody female so we’re not sure what’s going on there.
9th – there are two Barn Owls in the barn this morning, one in the nestbox and the other on a beam.
2nd – a ringed Barn Owl, presumably the male, was at roost in the nestbox this morning. At lunchtime the same bird was at roost on a beam in the barn, viewable on Barncam.
June 2014
28th – more close-up views of a Barn Owl at roost in the nestbox late afternoon today.
26th – an adult is roosting in the nestbox again this afternoon.
24th – what looks like an unringed adult (so the female?) is in the nestbox preening this morning.
20th – an owl was at roost early afternoon in the nestbox and is currently on a beam in the barn.
19th – an owl was at roost in the barn in the afternoon.
18th – just a quick update for those still tuning in to the cams. A pair of Barn Owls has bred in a building nearby and on 9th June, a brood of 4 well-fed owlets was ringed, along with the adult male. Typical of the species, the landowners had seen and heard very little and only suspected nesting just prior to our visit. The owlets were 7-8 weeks of age! It’s now probably worth keeping an eye open for juvenile owlets in the next couple of weeks, as they potentially move around the site.
You may remember that we did fit a camera in this other building, but unfortunately it was fried during the lightening strike that lead to some downtime with Nestcam and Barncam – a great shame as we would have enjoyed watching them nesting this year.
3rd – reports over the weekend indicate a single Barn Owl has been at roost in the barn.
May 2014
28th – still very little to report. Not even sure whether there is a pair around and if so where they’re breeding.
19th – a Barn Owl is currently at roost in the barn, viewable on Barncam.
9th – after little to report over the last few days, we’re delighted to tell you that Barncam is now back up and running, as of this afternoon. The culprit was a faulty connection. The landowner reports that there is a Barn Owl around and it may have been using the barn (though not the nestbox as we already know).
April 2014
29th – back up and running, albeit still an empty nestbox.
28th – perhaps I spoke too soon. There have been broadband connection problems at the farm, which is why there’s no image (again). We thought we had it sorted by early afternoon but the connection has just dropped out as I type. Apologies for this, we’re trying our best.
22nd – still no regular sightings of the owls, but at least Nestcam appears to have settled down a bit. Unfortunately we can’t get Barncam to work, but we’ll keep trying.
14th – we can only get Nestcam working for the moment and we’re not sure why. However, the box is very, very empty and there haven’t even been any reports of the pair from the landowner. One wonders whether they’ve gone elsewhere to breed . . . We’ll keep working on Barncam of course to try to get it up and running, but to be honest it doesn’t sound like we’re missing much. It was always likely that the site would experience an absence of nesting one year, and perhaps this is it. However, it’s still early so there’s still time for things to come good.
10th – apologies for the lack of recent updates. The cameras are down again and we don’t quite know why. However, we are lead to believe that there has been no change in status at the site so it’s still quiet in the nesting barn. We are endeavouring to sort the problem as quickly as we can, but due to pressure of work it’s taking longer than we had hoped. Apologies once again.
March 2014
17th – the landowner informs us that a pair of birds was seen in the barn on Friday night. These were later videoed copulating, which is a great sign. However, they’re not yet roosting in the barn during the day, which is not good news. Fingers crossed they move in to lay.
14th – after over a month of no streaming, we’ve finally sorted the computers down at the farm. Although the landowner reports a Barn Owl as still being about at present, it doesn’t seem to be spending much time in the nestbox.
Some of you will have noticed an improvement in the Nestcam image; this is as a direct of result of some generous donations received last summer, which enabled us to upgrade the camera. Thank you very much to those that contributed funds for this purpose. We hope you all enjoy watching.
3rd – apologies once again for the lack of an image. We think the computer at the farm has been damaged and will need to be replaced or repaired. Our IT guru Alan is on stand-by to visit once we get the spare parts we think we need and hopefully then normal service will be restored thereafter. Again, thank you for your patience.
February 2014
10th – it now transpires that our computer down at the farm may also have blown during the lightning strike. Please be assured that we are trying to sort this as soon as possible and apologies (again) for any inconvenience.
3rd – sorry, still no connection forthcoming from BT, though it is supposed to be in the next couple of days if we’re lucky.
January 2014
20th – just a quick update to say that BT are apparently struggling to re-connect the farm’s telephone line but hope to do it some time this week. Apologies for the inconvenience.
9th – apologies to those frustrated at not being able to access the cameras at the moment. A direct lightning strike at the farm during the storms a couple of days ago has outed the hub and much of the telephone cabling! This is currently being replaced or repaired and it is hoped normal service will resume in the very near future. Thanks for your patience.
6th – a single Barn Owl has been in the nestbox or barn for most of the festive period, and is currently at roost again today.