The Mystery Man!!!!!

Following the recent poll on the next batch of nest box colours (thanks to those who voted) Green came out well on top with 60% of the vote, Brown pulled in 30% and 10% voted neither! Therefore to get the balance about right the 6 boxes erected today were 5 green and a solitary brown. 

Today's gofa, gate opener and ladder carrier giving me a hand was..........??????? Unfortunately his identify can't be revealed due to an ongoing police investigation, but hey I don't care what he has suppose to have done he wasn't harassing any dogs or cats when he was with me!

The mystery man! 

As last week I again drew the short straw and was the one going up the ladder (where's  Colin Green when you need him?). Yours truly in action, puffing and panting and it was only the first box!

The first box of the day and overall box No 35 was put up at Blaby, a different photo angle than the norm which shows the landing perch that was attached to make the comings and goings a little easier.

Box No 2 was also at Blaby.

The 3rd box was sited in an area that lies between two different breeding sites at South Wigston, there's high hopes for this box for next year?

The next location was not far from the only successful breeding site that used one of my boxes this year, hopefully the juveniles will have a familiarity with the box design..........if they can find it?

Different angle showing landing perch.

The fifth site and the only Brown box of the day was near to Peatling Magna, only 2 fields away from an established breeding site that raised 3 young this year.

The last selected site of the day was in an orchard near to Whetstone, I have never seen or heard any Little Owls here but the landowner thinks he has.......time will tell!

I only have 1 more box left to put up over at Brascote, but unfortunately time ran out today due to a richly deserved pit stop at the very hospitable General Elliot Public House at Willoughby, a superb couple of pints and complementary bar nibbles/sandwiches were gratefully received........well worth a visit if you are in the area, just tell them the "owl man" sent you there for your free pint!!!!!!!  

No head for heights!

Little Owl boxes 31-34 went up on Saturday, all around the parish of Lubbesthorpe, this parkland and pasture area is only a mile or so west of  a major retail park and industrial area. It has the M1 motorway bordering the eastern side and the north and south areas are dissected by another motorway, the M69. Believe it or not this is actually a superb area for owls, Little, Barn and Tawny are all regularly seen here.

Today I had yet another assistant in tow, "Big Phil" but unlike on previous occasions where "the guest" would always go up the ladders and secure the box Phil decided this time it would be ME who would be going up the ladders............WHAT!!!!!!!!!

Phil wasn't listening to my pathetic pleas of having vertigo and just generally being an idle sod, so reluctantly here I am "up the ladder" having just secured the 1st box of the day! 

2nd box of the day, a really nice position in a Oak Tree.

The 3rd location of the day was again in an Oak Tree, but unlike the 2 previous boxes which weren't put up too high this one was ridiculous,  when up there and looking down it felt as though I was at least a 100 feet up, although the perspective of the photo doesn't show it!

Holding on for dear life whilst doing my posing bit!

In contrast to the previous "high" box the 4th location was the lowest of the day, although still just as dangerous!!!

When possible the box will have a branch below the entrance hole, this assists the juveniles when leaving and returning to the box, this wasn't possible on the 4th box so one was created and attached to the side of the box, as can be seen in this final image. 

Another productive day with four more boxes erected, tally now at 34 so far this year, cheers for your help Phil. As can be seen all the boxes today were green in colouration, I'm still not sure what colour the next batch will be so please don't forget to vote in my poll, you can do this at the top right hand side of my blog............thanks!

Brown.....or Green??????

As regular visitors to this blog will know I have been recently making more Little Owl nest boxes, 40 so far. In the second batch I still have another 11 to make/paint and I am now undecided on which colour is actually best suited, brown or green? 

Here is a reminder of what both look like when erected out in the field.

Brown? 

Green?

You can help me in my decision making by casting your vote on the poll, it can be located at the top of the right hand side column on this blog, just click on the colour you prefer and then press the vote button, its as simple that................thanks for helping.

The Right man!!!

Not much time for owling this weekend, it was a trip over to Coventry to watch the footie early Saturday and then back to watch the rugby in the evening, a great day that was made all the better with a few customary pints of beer..........they kept me going!!!!! Then today it was more Little Owl box erecting, as explained in a earlier post I have been very busy lately making the second batch of 20 boxes, 3 were put up with my mate Daz earlier in the week and a few more this morning.

Only today, I had a new assistant, I think all the previous helpers suddenly find themselves busy when they know I'm looking for a hand........only joking fellers!!!!!  Mr Colin Green was the victim today and what a fine bloke he is to help with a chore of this type, he's a chippy by trade so together (well Colin) should make mince meat of the task in hand.  

Before we set off  we had a bacon roll and a cuppa, this was tactical on my behalf though as apparently grafters (like Colin) don't work as efficient on an empty stomach, so I thought I would fill him up and get the man at full steam for the morning!!

First stop was over at Whetstone Pastures, Colin was up and down the ladders in no time at all and the first box was up!

The second box at Whetstone Gorse East was put up even quicker, he was in the groove!

The 3rd Box at Whetstone Gorse West went up without a hitch, deffo the right man for the job, he can come and help again! 

At the 4th site at Willoughby, I was in charge of taking photo's, a job that is just as important as putting up the boxes!

 The 5th site at Kilby the man was just a blurr! 

 

The final and 6th box of the morning, the bacon butty deffo did the job!

And finally, just to prove I was there, and I did go up the ladder.......just the once!

Many thanks to Colin, he was a great help and superb company, even if he did sing (badly) country and western songs all morning!

So that's another 6 boxes up from this second batch, only another 11 to go. I guess I will be at it again next weekend, I wonder who's arm I can twist to help me then? Any offers.................... 

Hung like a Bull!

No time for watching owls tonight, I was far too busy erecting some of the first completed owl boxes in the second batch of 20. My very good mate Daz came along to lend a hand and do all the donkey work, he's a good lad you know!

The selected area was a huge pasture area south of the village of Willoughby Waterleys, an area that already has half a dozen or so established Little Owl territories. The location is a perfect choice for the boxes, plenty of grassy pasture, an abundance of isolated mature trees, dense hedgerow all around and best of all it is totally private with no roads or footpaths.

It was decided not to erect the first two boxes near to where any existing nests sites are, they were positioned "in between" territories, thus hoping to create attractive sites for the now roaming juveniles and an overall longer term denser population.

Daz doing the donkey work, I was directing the operation!!!!!!!

The first box in its final position, an Ash tree with a nice open aspect and a hedgerow running along underneath..........just about perfect!

The second box was erected in a mature Oak tree, again a hedgerow underneath which will offer protection to the birds as well as an excellent environment for them to grub around for food. Note how the green box blends in much better than the old brown ones did.

The 3rd box was also erected in a Ash tree, Little Owls are in residence here so we are hoping they will find the box a more attractive proposition and move in........time will tell.

Whilst putting up the 3rd box we were in close attendance of this menacing character, we kept a very close eye on him at all times, Daz reckons he is built like a bull, not sure which part of his anatomy he is referring to though!!!!

Only another 17 boxes to put up now, that'll be a job for this weekend, and the next weekend, and even the one after that!

A labour of love.

The Little Owl nest box production line as of 5.30pm Sunday afternoon, the work in progress now tallies 13 boxes, I'm not looking forward to treating the timber though, it takes ages to do 3 coats and its a bloody boring job! 

Going Green!

I have just begun the assembly of my next 20 Little Owl boxes, hopefully they will be made and positioned in the next few weeks just in time to maybe attract some of this years juveniles once they start to disperse from their natal sites.

I now realise I made a fundamental mistake with the first 20 boxes I put up earlier this year........the colour!!!  Its not that the owls have any preference at all, they couldn't give a dam. The problems lies with how obvious they are when compared to the natural colour of a tree trunk, see image below.

Pictured below is the first off the production line sporting the new colour, hopefully they will blend in better with the natural environment and won't bring as much attention to themselves as the "brown box" did at site 96 where some scroat climbed the tree and stole 3 eggs out of the box!

In addition to the colour change I have also made a slight design change, the door has been moved over to the left hand side (did you notice the change?). The reason for this is the hen birds were found to prefer the front right hand side of the box to lay her eggs, therefore I thought it less disturbing to move the door over. 

Many thanks to Ken & Jean Goodrich for organising the supply of the timber through the Leicester And Rutland Ornithological Society.

Half Way There.

Another 3 boxes went up at selected locations today (sunday) couldn't put any more up because that was all I had made, not because half way through the day I was distracted by the call of pub.............again!!! Although I did managed a few pints once we were finished. 

Today was the first time I have taken the double ladders, the 3 locations today all required the boxes to be secured a little higher up the tree than those previous, I have tried to show the height perspective in these two images.

                          

Thats now 10 boxes up and 10 to go, I've now got to pull my finger out otherwise my target date of the end of Feb for all boxes to be up is not going to be met, I must focus and ban myself from the pub for a week or so.......is that possible????

Mant thanks to John Swift who was my victim helper for the morning.