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As a Ranger, there aren’t always as many opportunities to do species work as people may think, so when an opportunity does come along, I jump on it! Before starting at Bowhill, I was extremely fortunate to get a little experience with Owls, both in the Borders and in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park. Luckily this gave me some insight into Owl ecology and good starting point for my own work on the Bowhill Estate.
Owls can be a great indicator for the overall ecosystem health, based on prey availability and abundance. By recording demographic data of different owl species, we can monitor changes over time, which is crucial for land management in an ever shifting climate.
Owls eat their prey whole and like many birds, regurgitate what they cannot digest in a pellet (think cat furballs). By disecting and analysing pellet contents, you can start to paint a picture of foodwebs for both agricultural and woodland habitats.
This has also been for me, a great opportunity for some educational and engagement activities.
Meet the Tawny Owl
Tawny Owls (Strix aluco) establish their territories in Autumn, when pair bonding takes place and favour mature woodland habitats, utilising cavities in deciduous trees for nesting. Tawny’s can have a relatively small territory size of 18.2 hectares, dependent upon prey abundance. Tawny’s also have reversed sexual dimorphism, with the female weighing up to 800g! This creates some unique opportunities when foraging and feeding young, with the male catching smaller prey when young owlets are still in the nest and the larger female bringing bigger prey when owlets are close to fledging. One particular adaption which came to light when doing some research, was the Tawny Owls hearing. We all know that Owls have amazing eyesight, being predominantly nocturnal hunters, but their hearing is astonishing. When perching whilst on the hunt, Tawny’s can hear a beetle moving through the undergrowth!
Voices in the Night
To determine Tawny Owl presence, it’s actually quite straight forward, as they can be very vocal after dusk. Mustering a group of enthusiastic volunteers, we undertook two walked routes (transects) in March to listen for distinctive “Hoo ho ho ho hoo” and “Kewick” calls. Whilst the second survey was eerily quiet, the first was a resounding success, with eight separate calls heard on and around Pernassie Hill. The next step over the summer, will be the challenging task of finding pellets in the woodlands, near where we heard the calls.
The Barn Owl
Barn Owls (Tyto alba), the silent hunter, are the distinctive white owls with a heart shaped facial ring. Barn Owls do not have a territory as such, but do have a “Home Range”, which they will remain in for their lifespan. This will allow them to build an extremely detailed mental map of an area, allowing them to roost and hunt for prey in the best locations. Unlike the Tawny Owl, these home ranges can be huge, reaching up to 5,000 hectares over winter and include a nest site, plus roosts where they can enjoy a bite to eat!
Barn owls have some amazing adaptions that allow for silent flight, increasing their chances for successful hunting. In addition to large wings enabling very slow flight, their wing feathers are really soft and have adaptions that maintain air flow and deaden the sound of air hitting the wings!
Gathering Pellets
As Barn Owls use buildings for nests and roosts, signs of presence can be relatively easy to uncover. After speaking with residents and contractors, I was able to identify a roosting spot and manage to gather a really good collection of pellets.
The Barn Owl
After collecting the pellets, it was now a great opportunity to get children involved! At the Kelso Countryside Schools Day, pupils from across the Scottish Borders identified a total of 14 Common Shrew (Sorex cinereums) and 44 Field Voles (Microtus agrestis), with the teeth being the key way of identifying each species. This was also a great opportunity to talk about food webs and species adaptions and as always, it was amazing to see the children so engaged.
