[escapedtothecountry]

Last night I heard this funny screeching... I went outside with the torch and saw my first owl at our place.mimfeltnquite pleased as in spite of all the pigeons and rabbits everywhere there is so much I still haven't seen... Like a fox. I saw more of them when living on a housing estate.


I wondered if any of you had made an owl box.. As I'd love to attract them. Any photos would be great.


At the weekend I was looking for jump leads and ousted 5 mice from my outbuilding. 2 traps and 24hr later they clearly had returned as the traps had done their job. Not sure if a stiff mouse would appeal to an owl at night... But left in the paddock to see.

[ZaktheLad]

We have quite a few barn owls by our house and I love lying in bed at night listening to them hooting outside the window 

[lord flynn]

we have lots-mostly brown but some barn owls too. when I go down to the paddock to shut up chickens for the night, I can usually hear 2/3 (old woodland valley). Lots of babies atm. Don't often see them although I did see one last night. They are a bit more annoying sitting outside my bedroom window shrieking at 4am though

[Anke]

We have quite a few barn owls by our house and I love lying in bed at night listening to them hooting outside the window 

The ones that hoot are tawny owl (the brown ones), barn owls (the white ones) just shreek.

[henchard]

I wondered if any of you had made an owl box.. As I'd love to attract them. Any photos would be great.

Some plans amd info available via the links on this page

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/nestboxes/owlskestrels/index.aspx

[escapedtothecountry]

Thanks - we have both types of owls - but clearly seen a barn owl - as it shrieking away and a lovely white face, if a little narked that i shone my torch at it.

[Bramblecot]

Congratualtions on spotting your owls.
We made barn owl boxes and put them at either end of the new barn about 4 metres off the ground.  Barn owls nested there for the first time this year .
The simplest box for indoors can be made from a tea chest.  Put a platform at the front just below the opening hole.  There should be a depth of 16" at least from the hole to the base of the box - so the owlets cannot fall out before they are strong enough to hop back again.
 
'Our' owls used to perch on a shelving unit about 30' from the nest.  I chucked a few newly killed mice (thanks cats) onto the shelf.  They all disappeared 
Good notes available for the Barn Owl Trust.

[Sudanpan]

We made an owl box that was used by tawny owls last year 


Unfortunately the Jackdaws took up residence this year 


We used the plans on the RSPB website

[john and helen]

and i know what i would have done ....... Bang 

[ZaktheLad]

I have just listened to the various owl calls on Google  and we definitely have both barn and tawny owls    I have seen the barn owls but never the Tawny although it is obviously their hooting that I hear outside the bedroom window!  A friend of ours several fields away had neighbours put in an appeal against floodlights for her outdoor sand school as they said that the barn owls resident around the area would be disturbed by them. 

Years ago we used to have one of those very tiny owls that used to always sit in an old apple tree at the side of our drive 

[Lesley Silvester]

I love owls. We hear them near here when we are dog walking in the early evening.

[luckylady]

Caught this cheeky little chap sat on our fence peering in at us through the window.  We have barn owls hunting on the grassland around the farmhouse and this year for the first time we had a pair hunting together.  Have totted up hours and hours watching them.  Put up an A frame box on the end of the barn a few weeks ago (plans from RSPB too).  Fingers crossed it is going to be inhabited.
 
 

[Penninehillbilly]

I was lucky enough to just catch this beauty over the fields, short eared owl, we also have little owls, driving up the lane I saw one sat on a fence post, stopped to watch it, then realised there was a stoat scouting round the base of the fence post, wish I'd had a camera.
Someone's talking of releasing Barn Owls near here, I've never herd of any round here, don't know if they would survive.