When Dennis Darling retired over 20 years ago his newly found outdoor life was a welcome contrast to shuffling paper in the city and he especially welcomed a new responsibility – Owl Duty at Philipshill Wood.
Chorleywood was one of the first areas in Herts to take part in ‘Operation Tawny Owl’ monitoring the activity of these nocturnal birds in county woodland (they feed on small mammals like wood mice, and shrews). The mission, initiated by the Wildlife Conservation Partnership with The Woodland Trust, began as a 10yr project but is still going. The Hawk and Owl Trust provided customised nesting boxes and Friends of Philipshill Wood fixed them in place high up on tree trunks and have been reporting their findings ever since. There are over 19,000 pairs of tawny owls in the UK but the number has declined so the species is now on the Amber list of UK Birds of Conservation and observations are more important than ever.
‘We started with 16 nesting boxes and Friends have made six more since.’ says Dennis, I borrowed a Tony Soper bird book from the library so often that they eventually sold it to me for 30p! The book has nesting box instructions with crucial dimensions. The idea is to replicate what the birds do in the wild but they don’t bring nesting material so we supply a couple of handfuls of cocoa shell mulch to stop eggs rolling around. We inspect boxes over the last week of April and the drill is to wear a visor and proptective gloves and bang on the box. With a bit of luck a tawny owl flies out (it’s exciting but their wingspan is huge!) and you should be looking at a clutch of eggs or chicks. We keep a log of our findings and check again in September and evict any squirrels.
One box has had 9 visits over 22 years while 3 boxes haven’t had any activity. It’s a mystery why they favour some! This year two boxes were occupied by nesting tawny owls and we have photographic evidence of chicks. Providing there is a plentiful supply of beech nuts mice and voles thrive so there is more hunting for the owls.”
But the Chorleywood leg of the project needs help
“Twelve boxes have rotted from the elements or been gnawed by squirrels and need serious repair or renewal which involves climbing a 10ft ladder. The time is coming to hand over to somebody else.”
To sponsor a nox for £25 or join join Friends of Philipshill Wood volunteers contact peter.haley1@btinternet.com
Friends will also be helping with a future county-wide survey of small woodland mammals and amphibians