Courteenhall estate welcomes arrival of barn owls

Barn owls have moved into new boxes installed at Courteenhall this year

Work to attract barn owls to a country estate has paid off, a monitoring group has said.

Staff at Courteenhall, near Northampton, installed four barn owl boxes earlier this year and three have shown signs of occupation.

A barn owl has also been ringed at Courteenhall for the first time, so its progress and movements can be tracked.

The estate has asked neighbouring landowners to put boxes up to encourage more of the birds.

Courteenhall is a private estate near Northampton with an imposing Georgian hall and its gardens are teeming with wildlife

Courteenhall, which is close to junction 15 of the M1, has been owned by the Wake family since 1672.

Its Georgian hall is surrounded by landscaped parkland which is home to a variety of wildlife, but the estate has been keen to attract more owls.

The owners of Courteenhall estate want to see more owls visiting

Four boxes were installed earlier this year, monitored by Chris Payne, a licensed senior ringer and trainer for Northants Ringing Group.

"On my first winter visit to Courteenhall, in two of the barn owl boxes, there was great evidence of barn owls using both," he said.

"One of the boxes had a few little owl pellets inside too."

Expert bird-ringer Chris Payne was delighted to find evidence of occupation in the new barn owl boxes

Mr Payne said that during a second visit to check the other new boxes, the managed to ring "our first Courteenhall barn owl", which was roosting in one of the boxes.

"This beautiful female is a good weight at 300g, her plumage is absolutely immaculate and, as I found out, she has needle-sharp talons," he said.

Catching the owls to ring them can be a dangerous job

Dr Johnny Wake, managing partner of Courteenhall Farms, said: "We're delighted with our growing owl population.

"Ringing is important because it allows us to build up a general picture of movement in and around the estate and beyond.

"It's even more effective when adjoining landowners do the same and put up owl boxes too."

He said the boxes would be closely monitored over the next couple of months and before the breeding season starts.

The estate hopes nearby landowners will put up boxes to attract more owls