Quantock Hills Blog
IT’S A HOOT
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Posted by Andy Harris on 02 February 2010
Has anyone seen their first snowdrop, heard a Tawny Owl declaring its territory or the blood-chilling scream of a fox calling for a mate? If you have or have any other interesting sightings I would be interested to hear from you. Another species that is beginning to make themselves heard is the Long Eared Owl, a scarce species throughout the UK but associated with conifer woodland and heathland.
A handful of records exist for this charismatic bird on the Quantocks and for the third year in a row volunteers will help the AONB Service to survey them across the hill tops. I am working with Chris Sperring of the Hawk and Owl Trust to try and locate nesting sites by listening for adult owls calling to one another. The tricky thing is that their call isn’t exactly loud and doesn’t travel far and with the population being scarce competition is low and they may not even want to call. However this year we are trying a recall method, following a technique used on the continent and in America / Canada.
On certain nights from 8:30pm onwards and then every half hour small groups of volunteers will walk transects through native and plantation woodland playing a recording of a male Long Eared Owl to try and encourage a reply (recall) from either another male defending a territory or an interested female. This intrusion into their world is kept to absolute minimum and follows strict guidelines so as not to artificially alter their natural behaviour. The survey of potential breeding sites will go on through February and come to an end in March and I’ll keep you informed how things progress via this blog.
Photo by Chris Sperring MBE
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