We dropped in to the moor today to give one of the owl boxes a look. We had checked it two days earlier but two birds flew from the box as we arrived and it was then empty on inspection. Today we took a net, ready to catch any bird that might decide to vacate once we were by the box.
The net worked in as much as it stopped birds trying to use that exit. Chris was able to get hold of one well grown youngster although another escaped from the hatch.
The dark feathering and spotted flanks point to this bird being a female. There was no remaining down and the weight was low, so it's reached the stage of learning to hunt for itself and before long will have left the parents territory.
All necessary permits held in respect of monitoring this schedule 1 species.
Total: 1
Barn Owl - 1