Early Nesting Year

2026 has seen our earliest pulli ringing dates over the last 8 years for:

Tawny Owl: April 25th (out of 18 records) 

Kestrel:  May 16th (out of 141 records)

Barn Owl: May 23rd (out of 360 records)

First Barn Owl egg of 2026...

 ...  we've received a report on 24th March from one of our camera boxes that a Barn Owl pair has laid their first egg.

This is a fairly typical date for an early nesting pair. Our nest box checks later in the year may reveal an earlier start to egg-laying elsewhere.

Hopefully this is a portent of a productive breeding year to come.

Edit: a brood was ringed on 23rd May where the first egg would have been laid around 10th March.  

 

Barn Owl Trust report for 2025

The Barn Owl Trust collation of over 30 independent Barn Owl Groups data for 2025 shows that it was a very poor year for Barn Owl breeding across most UK regions:

SOUKBOP-2025