The owl conservation project at La Pierre Levée, near Bagnoles de l'Orne,
Lower Normandy,
is linked to our Panda Gite, in
association with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), and the Parc Naturel de
Normandie-Maine.
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The loft of the old farmhouse / hunting lodge, above the gite (below, left), has been occupied by nesting Barn Owls (Tyto alba) for many years. We decided to try to encourage a larger population on the property by installing nest boxes in several known feeding sites around the farm courtyard. We hope that the owls will discover and get used to the boxes this year, and nest in one or more of them next spring. This is part of our "organic" strategy for vermin control, and because barn owls are increasingly rare, but also because we just like listening to the owls hunting, hissing and generally "hooting it up" at night!
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Juvenile Barn Owl
1. Main barn. A square wooden nest box made from two old cupboard doors and some plywood. It is installed on top of two trestles in the hayloft above the main barn (above, right), approximately 4.5 metres above the ground. Owls use the barn to hunt and digest their prey - there are numerous pellet sites below the rafters (pictured below, left) and railings.
"Owl house is a very, very, very nice house..." Nestbox is visible in barn corner.
2. Stables, attached to the barn. An oblong nest box made from an old wooden packing case with a sheet of particle board slotted over the front. It is installed in the hayloft above one of the former horse boxes, which is now used for drying timber. The owls use the rafters to perch and digest their prey - evidenced by a veritable mound of pellets and droppings. This is a spacious and highly desirable owl residence, suitable as a starter home, for nesters, or for an extended family. It boasts period character, excellent aspect and security. It also features four de facto "owl windows", one in each corner of the loft, just below the guttering. These may have been for ventilation of the hay originally, but seem to be an ideal size to allow Barn Owls to access the loft (15-18cm square), via the 80cm thick stone walls. The box is approx. 4 metres above the ground and the only access is via wings or ladder. Very early (or very late) viewing is highly recommended.
De facto "Owl windows" visible to left
and right |
Pellet site below rafters. Nestbox against rear wall. |
Owl pellets. Note two skulls of prey (diameter |
Pellet site below crossbeams, adjacent hayloft. Possible future site for nest box. |
| The larger and more aggressive Tawny Owls (Strix aluco) prefer trees to buildings as roost sites. They nest in and hunt from the trees edging the fields, and can often be heard hooting at night. They coexist with the Barn Owls around the farm courtyard - it seems there are plenty of rodents for all! |
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Tawny Owl hunting sites, above and left (mixed oak, pear and pine trees, adjacent to a varied environment of woods, untreated meadows, lawns and cereal crops). There is a great variety of potential prey including voles, mice and moles. |
If you would like to help support our conservation projects, and wish to make a contribution, please send it to: N. Woodhead, at "La Pierre Levée", La Sauvagère, 61600, France. Alternatively, you can support our activities by staying in our holiday Gite, within close proximity of numerous owls and many other birds and animal species. Click on the Home button at the foot of this page for further details.
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Several other species of owl have been spotted on the property: the tufted Long-eared Owl (Asio otus); the Little Owl (Athene Noctua). Even the largest of European owls, the Eagle Owl, has been known to pass through.
The Barn Owl Trust
The Owl Pages - All about Owls
<http://OwlPages.com>
The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
www.the-owl-barn.com/bbop/barnbox.html
The Barn Owl Centre of Gloucestershire
www.barnowl.co.uk/owl/wowl/projectadvice.asp
Building Nest Boxes
www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/woodwork/ww9/
www.owlpages.com/owlboxes.html
www.rain.org/~sals/barnowl.html
Francophone Sites
www.rochefeuille.net/chouette/nichoir.htm
www.lpochampagneardenne.com/protection/protection_effraie.htm
http://beruchot.free.fr/nichoirs.html
http://users.skynet.be/birdsbay/Pages/aider_rapaces.html
Barn Owl Feather, by far the most common found from any bird species in the area, remarkable in that the barn owl is becoming an endangered bird in Western Europe
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100 Vintage Animal Prints - Windows Screensaver A collection of over 100 antique engravings and lithographs, mostly in color, of world fauna - birds (including owls!), reptiles, insects, fish, mammals and other animal species, digitized and compiled as a screen saver format slideshow for windows. Includes illustrations from sought-after Buffon, Gould, Bloch and Audobon editions, etc. Ideal gift for nature lovers, kids, ecologists... Download it now for just $5.99 Supplied as a .SCR installation file for Windows, with random transition effects between each image. Simply download or copy the file to your Windows default screensaver directory (normally C:\Windows or C:\Windows\system32, depending on the version of windows you are using). Then open your computer's Control Panel, select the Display icon, click on the Screensaver tab, and choose "FlyerSaver" from the list.
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If you have arrived at this page direct from a search engine,
please visit our home page for details of our Gite (family holiday cottage),
other wildlife activities and fungus forays,
near the spa town of Bagnoles de l'Orne in Lower Normandy:
