Our barn owl conservation area established in 2007, has continued to grow each year to provide us with a significant benefit to the species in and around the southern Mid Sussex area. Started when the species was on the amber-listed species register under threat from habitat loss, the barn owl has, with our contribution to a national effort amongst similar groups across Great Britain, returned to a healthy population. It is, however, now dependent on artificial nest boxes supporting 85% of its population. This has placed a responsibility on our shoulders to maintain or increase our group effort to reflect and support this dependency.

These beautiful birds are worth all our effort to support their continuing survival.

Loss of natural hunting habitat through the continuous erosion of suitable countryside required to provide them with sufficient prey to sustain them, is the prime reason.

Their presence is often witnessed at dusk when they begin hunting for food across open countryside.

Human expansion taking increasingly large chunks of this terrain to provide housing and industrial development is mostly responsible. Developers are choosing to select green field applications to provide this human expansion rather than utilising existing brown field previously developed areas, as it is far easier to prepare, and less expensive to achieve than if they had to clean it up first.

The barn owl relies on large areas of our natural landscape to provide sufficient prey to sustain them.

Councils are increasingly allowing such development to happen as they are under considerable pressure from successive national governments to increase housing numbers and industrial units.

This is another local area of countryside that is in the process of disappearing forever in the village of Hassocks.

This results in the current trend of short-term thinking to maximise such results as speedily as possible, without considering the effect on the future of our natural environment and the demise of wildlife species struggling to avoid extinction.

If more intelligent long-term consideration was applied, they would see as we do, that we as a human race are equally dependent on the survival of countryside to provide us with the food and the same natural environmental qualities needed by wildlife to survive.

In an effort to offset this inevitable calamity to all, we as a group try to combat this damage as much as we possibly can with our conservation work.

We have provided barn owl boxes in and around southern Mid-Sussex to form a group conservation area.

Our barn owl conservation team therefore works ceaselessly throughout the year maintaining damaged boxes in the winter to ensure our barn owls have adequate shelter, inspecting boxes to establish breeding success in them in the summer, and recording the number that eventually fledge to boost the local population.

These boxes are subjected to harsh weather and physical damage and need constant upkeep to maintain in good condition.

It is very hard work for all concerned, as most nest box locations are great distances into the countryside and require a huge physical effort to travel to them over terrain unsuitable for vehicle access, to transport the ladders and equipment necessary to implement this.

The locations selected are in remote areas of countryside to meet the requirements of the barn owl.

To help us achieve this work we have extremely generous benefactors amongst our members, the public and other groups, who kindly support us with donations and contributions to help to financially assist us with the expensive task we undertake. We are very grateful to everyone that helps us in this way.

The team undertaking this work are dedicated and includes one member who spends hours of his life undertaking repairs and construction of boxes that are too badly damaged to be restored on site. His workshop and the engineering skills he possesses, transforms all boxes that aren’t beyond repair and requiring replacement, into rejuvenated homes for the owls. With the boxes considered to be beyond help, completely new ones are required.

Our team members devote a huge amount of their lives to this task.

We then revisit the sites the boxes were removed from and return them to their previous positions. His effort and expertise are invaluable with this conservation effort and we are extremely grateful to him for it. It also greatly reduces the continuously rising costs of materials we are faced with to achieve, especially with the cost of full replacement boxes escalating daily.

Hours are spent ensuring warm and dry roosting habitat for the owls is available to sustain them in all weathers.

This year’s results for owls breeding in our boxes was good overall, although the individual brood size was slightly smaller than other years due to the unusually hot spell experienced in early summer. This in turn affected the availability of prey for them to feed on. In times of food shortage, initially higher brood numbers can be reduced as they grow, as hungry larger chicks can consume their smaller siblings to compensate.

With our conservation area territory now extremely large due to having to offset the reductions caused by development, we managed to maintain their breeding levels to sustain their population.

The birds are classed as Schedule 1 species and their disturbance requires a permit for recording activities. Using this authorisation held to disturb the breeding occupants, we submit below some of the results we achieved with all pictures showing this year’s box residents. We encountered a huge difference in the stages of development at the first visit, with some still in egg form whilst others contained owls that were almost ready to fledge.

We found many boxes containing barn owl eggs on our initial visits.

We also found a number that contained kestrel eggs.

Barn owl egg incubation takes 30 to 31 days until they hatch. These are some of the near naked and blind chicks that we found had emerged in our boxes. Note the larder of dead prey collected by the parents in readiness for their development.

They initially form a thin coat of down called Neopile. They are very dependent on surrounding warm conditions to sustain them at this time.

These are owls we found showing the typical size difference often occurring between siblings, as the initial Neopile down is replaced by a thicker Mesoptile down after 12 to 14 days.

When the Mesoptile down is completely grown after 22 days they can control their own body temperature.

The distinctive barn owl facial discs begin to emerge after 12 to 13 days and the primary feather quills begin emerging with downy tufts. These pictured chicks became very familiar to us during our successive visits, as we diligently monitored their progress in an area of meadowland that our group maintains.

 Each visit we made recorded development and survival progress of all breeding occupants.  

The full feather quills begin emerging on the 25th day and body feathers rapidly form.

Our visits logged all changes to their development….

….as the instantly recognisable barn owl features began to emerge.

At 56 to 60 days the Mesoptile down is completely replaced by feathers and they are able to fly. 

At this stage they are completely indistinguishable from adults.

By the 56th day of development this stage is complete, although the feathers continuing growing until the 70th day. 

We were able to clearly see the sexes of the occupants at this time, with the female on the right exhibiting spots on the chest under the wings and a fawn collar under her facial disc.

The male on the left displayed completely white chest feathers.

At this stage they could readily fly from the box. This was one that flew out as we approached the tree the box was mounted on. Unfortunately, it was not able to sustain its flight and ‘belly-flopped’ into a surrounding field. It was gently recaptured and returned to the box to ensure its safety away from predators, as shown above.

This picture of the same owl naturally emerging from the box some time afterwards, which was forwarded by a friend of the very wildlife supportive landowner who was observing from a distance.

This picture forwarded by the same landowner, showed both the owls we had initially recorded in the box, emerging together in the twilight of the evening before they fully departed.

Our boxes are the roosting homes to many adult barn owls who capitalise on our effort to support them. This is one adult temporarily leaving the box to allow us to maintain it this year. It returned on our departure.

 With many of the sightings seen in our area of our countryside resulting from the presence of our barn owl conservation boxes, we feel a sense of achievement which sustains us through the periods of hard work and bad weather discomfort required to maintain them. 

The presence of kestrels in our boxes is increasing. These are those that resulted from the 5 kestrel eggs shown earlier.

4 resulted from the 5 eggs. There was no trace of the 5th egg.

They matured into very feisty fledglings on our return visits.

The demeanour of this one demonstrated the attitude ‘come one step closer and I will have your hand off!’ As they individually reached maturity, they progressively departed but were witnessed flying around the box position for some time afterwards.

Kestrels and barn owls readily are found occupying adjacent boxes and co-existing in the same countryside area, despite being rivals for the same prey. We are pleased that we are providing opportunities for both species and are hopefully making a difference to their survival prospects.

We undertake the conservation of a small but ecologically valuable area called Talbot Field in Hassocks. It includes a small wooded area surrounded by a field which has reverted to meadowland. This year we began our yearly work there in the early months by removing unwanted brush within the woodland and a smaller tree formation at the opposite end of the site, to allow unfettered public access to the footpaths that wind beneath the trees and restrict the bramble growth to a manageable presence. This allows woodland flowers to flourish in the spring.

The trees always produce a large quantity of debris each winter due to gales breaking off branches and occasionally causing a tree to fall, so our first task with the clearance work this year was to collect and cut up all the debris and stack it in piles under the trees to provide habitat for indigenous wildlife.

Stacking wood debris for wildlife.

Clearing the cuttings from the woodland.

 The site provides a home to many species of wildlife like this frog found residing beneath the leaves.

Toads are also found in the woodland area.

Cuttings were raked up and transported to a bonfire.

Once this was done, we began the brush cutting exercise with all resulting cuttings transported to a central position at the rear of the site, for disposal by burning. Due to the location of the surrounding houses, we only undertake this when the wind is blowing away from them to avoid any inconvenience to neighbours.

Volunteers wheeling barrows full of debris for burning.

Getting rid of the brush cuttings was the next step.

Some volunteers took a well-earned break before moving on to the next section.

When this was completed, we turned our attention to the meadow and removed all the bramble spread from under the trees, other brush emergence and a multitude of unwanted tree seedlings peppering the area. This keeps the meadow in the best condition for the summer wildflowers to flourish each year.

Clearing up after brush removal.

We then undertook the brush clearance adjacent to the perimeter hedgerows and fences to control its spread into the meadow and address the voiced concerns of the owners of neighbouring properties who resent it spreading into their gardens. It also allowed the perimeter bluebells and other wild flowers to grow freely without being smothered.

On completion of this phase, we undertook the removal of emerging ragwort plants whose presence always generates animated requests from neighbours for its removal as it spreads so freely and has reputation of deadliness to grazing animals. The plant tends to alarm people, in many cases unnecessarily where animals are not present. Certainly it is of value for Cinnabar Moths to flourish.  This year was a bumper year for ragwort due to favourable growing conditions and required a later return visit to remove the clearance of a second flush of growth. After this effort the meadow was left undisturbed for the meadow flowers to flourish.

Several years ago, Hassocks Parish Council, who we have always found to be an enthusiastic supporter of the natural environment, purchased some wildflowers for us to plant to enrich the meadow. Last year several packets of wildflower seeds were additionally sown by our group in the spoil heaps of the very vigorous mole population and have grown. A number of foxgloves and other wildflower plugs from our own group nursery garden were also planted last year and watered throughout the summer. The rewarding results of these efforts were seen this year with patches of ox-eye daisies, musk mallow, ribwort plantain, knapweed, vetches, cowslips and several other species providing colour amongst the meadow grass. The increased insect activity witnessed around these species clusters was evident.

Results of previous year’s planted plugs adding colour to the meadow.

Ox Eye Daisies have been added to the species mix within the meadow.

Musk Mallow now grows in many places to add richness to the area.

The only planting done this year was a small beech tree donated by a parish resident which has been watered weekly during the recent hot spell. This single planting was perhaps fortunate, as the dry heatwave conditions would have generated considerably more effort with the watering activity if more additions had been included.

The bird nest boxes mounted in the tree formations on the site have provided homes again to the local population of nuthatches, great tits and bluetits. These, together with the many area bat boxes, have been provided by the Parish Council for us to maintain and monitor over several years and for which we are very grateful to them.

The bat boxes have produced a regular colony for bats of various species to a remarkable degree for the size of the woodland area. Each year in the late summer we inspect them and record occupancy and always find that virtually every box has either resident bats in them or evidence from droppings that they are highly used. Last year quite a stir was created amongst bat groups and enthusiasts following our discovery of many ‘restricted and rare’ Bechstein’s bats in a number of the boxes.

Some of the Bechstein’s bats found in the boxes in Talbot Field woodland.

This led to us being requested to write an article describing the discovery for other groups. With the woodland being so continuously attractive to bats for colonisation, we strive to keep it in its current pristine condition to encourage continuation of this high box occupancy. We therefore are nervous when unavoidable external factors force change on the woodland structure and its existing formation, as with the unavoidable removal of several trees that were undermining a neighbouring property to the south last year and the large roadside oak tree detected to be unsafe to the north earlier this year which had to be felled.

Our late summer checks this year should indicate whether these losses have impacted usage by our local bat populations. We are hopeful that they haven’t and that a replacement for the tree to the north, indicated as a possibility by the Parish Council, materialises to restore the woodland.

The area is a valuable oasis for nature in a diminishing natural environment and we are extremely grateful to Hassocks Parish Council for the support they give us in our effort to increase its value still further.

Pond Lye SNCI

Having completed the work at Talbot Field for the summer we were then summoned to deal with an uncontrolled spread of ragwort at another of our sites called Pond Lye SNCI. Here the neighbouring property owners were again concerned by the sea of yellow which was advancing towards their property. We quickly attended and began clearing a 20 metre buffer strip away from their boundary by digging the plants out with ragwort forks.

The hot summer after earlier damp conditions encouraged vigorous meadow growth.

So vigorous was the growth here that in places it exceeded 2 metres tall, making it difficult for volunteers to see the person who was working next to them. With the summer temperatures so high and the ground so hard and cracked, it was almost impossible in places to insert the forks into the ground. In the high summer temperature, this task became one for the dedicated volunteer only.

In the extremely hot temperatures this summer produced, the volunteers battled on.

We found it easier to look back on the ground already cleared than the work which still had to be completed.

Slowly the sea of yellow shrank as volunteers progressed.

This ragwort invasion certainly pleased the insect populations in the meadow. Due to the exceptional growth of flora this year, the meadow became the home for wildlife of all descriptions.

Insect activity could be found everywhere.

Few plants were found without a wildlife companion, whether an insect on leaves and flowers or a small mammal scurrying beneath.

The grass in the meadow was unusually very tall this year also and baked dry and brown. This prevented any burning to take place as the surrounding terrain was like a ‘tinder box’, ready to spread fire uncontrollably across the site from the slightest spark.

All grass became parched in the heat of the exceptionally hot summer.

All ragwort removed was therefore transported to an area outside the meadow cut boundaries so that it could be left without impeding the annual late summer hay cut.

The volunteers worked tirelessly on this until a huge strip had been cleared bordering the neighbour’s area. It required three additional almost consecutive days to finish off so that group work could resume elsewhere. Our return will be for the meadow cut later when all all flowers have finished and the wildlife currently flourishing in the meadow will have dispersed.

Sunday May 1st provided an opportunity to step back from our tasks and appreciate some of the beautiful countryside that surrounds us as we gathered in a small Sayers Common woodland pond area for a group supporter open day. This also gave us an opportunity to demonstrate some of the nature conservation work we had been undertaking in the area for many years previously to our supporters and others who had been unable to visit with us on our volunteer project days.

The pond as it now appears after extensive work by group volunteers to restore it.

In May the bluebells begin to appear around the pond and in the surrounding woodland area. With fresh green leaves beginning to emerge and wildlife starting to breed, this early summer period is the perfect time to appreciate nature’s beauty.

The surrounding woodland begins to spring to life with a carpet of bluebells.

Visitors start to gather next to the woodland pond.

The extent of the work undertaken in the area by the group is explained to attendees.

The long and difficult task to retrieve the pond from its previously derelict state is described in detail.

The party of people then head toward the surrounding woodland.

Within the woodland, a carpet of bluebells skirted the pathways….

….stretching as far as the eye could see.

At regular intervals the party paused to allow everyone to catch up and gather to appreciate the flora and the wildlife boxes installed for bats and dormice.

One of the witnessed dormouse boxes erected in the woodland.

When looking up, bat boxes were seen mounted on the woodland trees.

Amongst the bluebells some orchids were observed. 

Occasional obstacles were encountered following wind damage in the early months of the year.

Once manoeuvred, all continued along the winding pathways….

….through the woodland towards the surrounding fields. 

When reached, everyone walked out into an area where further wildlife conservation measures were in place.

Here several barn owl boxes were sited.

An explanation was given of the box positions in an area where high usage was made of them. 

Once all boxes had been visited, the party of people headed back through the woods again….

….appreciating the scenic beauty as they went.

At the end of the journey the landowners had kindly organised refreshments….

….which were appreciated by all.

Cakes, sandwiches and drinks were gratefully consumed.

The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group are very grateful to the landowners who permitted this event to take place. They have been very supportive of our work for many years and allowed us to undertake a number of conservation projects in an area of extreme natural beauty. We would also like to thank all those who attended and the generous sum they contributed afterwards in voluntary contributions towards the ongoing cost of our work.

Last year’s dormouse box checks were not reported in a website bulletin due to an unavoidable temporary pause in group activities before Christmas, although they were briefly mentioned in the 2021 News Sheet. To provide a more comprehensive description to compensate, the following report is published.

A dormouse pictured enjoying a meal of honeysuckle.

Dormice nationally are very scarce and frustratingly difficult to detect. In many areas conservationists rely on nesting and feeding evidence left, footprint tunnel detection pads and motion detection cameras in order to confirm their presence when physical sightings are not possible. Sadly, it is the case across the country that dormouse numbers are even declining at re-introduction sites where a presence has been re-established. In our area we only erect dormouse boxes where we have at some stage witnessed them, or found old nests or food left- overs that bear their hallmarks when we have undertaken advance surveys with plastic investigation tubes. This currently amounts to four possible locations selected from a survey of the many woodlands in our local area and in which permanent wooden boxes have been erected in their place.

A volunteer installing dormouse boxes.

Since the initial positive results, subsequent box checks have proved frustratingly disappointing to establish a continuing evidence of dormice. The positive sightings we have recorded previously have been of lone individuals.

In these woodlands we have mounted an even distribution of boxes and check them frequently throughout the summer between April and November. Such is their scarcity, that we no longer expect to find a dormouse but when we do, we celebrate its presence.

A volunteer searching for evidence of dormouse nut consumption.

From a general wildlife perspective, the dormouse boxes provide a marvellous opportunity for nesting wood mice, great tits and blue tits with the ability to negotiate the rear entrance hole set against tree trunks and branches. Here they are regularly found raising their young. Others are used by the wood mice for creating food stores of acorns, hazel nuts, seeds and berries which unfortunately can attract the grey squirrel. When this happens the boxes are destroyed in the squirrel’s effort to gain access.

 A damaged dormouse box following a squirrel attack.

In our endeavour to sustain the dormouse population wherever possible, we will continue diligently with our checks in the knowledge that we have either had a previous presence or discovered signs of a possible habitation in each of the selected areas. All food stores found are examined for dormouse consumption traces and other clues of a presence but the vast majority of findings last year were non-dormouse related. The following pictures are included as a record of last year’s surveys and some of our findings. Although the dormouse continues to be elusive, you can join with us to celebrate the beauty of nature through our findings and other species found.

  An examined box being returned to its former position.

 Another box containing a stored food supply of acorns.

 A wood mouse found relaxing in a comfortable nest of leaves.

 A box containing a well feathered birds nest in readiness for egg laying. 

 Another box containing a clutch of bluetit’s eggs. 

 One of the many adult bluetits found capitalising on the dormouse box initiative to lay her eggs. 

  A wood mouse occupant of another examined box.

This box housed a family of wood mice.

 From beneath a nest of leaves a single wood mouse emerges.

 A store of delicious wood mouse food to sustain the occupants of this box.

 Bluetits are small enough to utilise the small entry hole at the rear of the dormouse box and are found in a large number of boxes in our woodland installations.

 Detecting our presence, these young bluetits don’t care who they ask to feed them.

We strive to disturb any species found as little as possible to allow them to continue to flourish in the relative safety of our boxes. When the nests are finished and the occupants have departed, the boxes are cleaned out in readiness for future residents which will hopefully include a dormouse presence.