Barn owl populations in the Yorkshire Wolds have improved after a poor breeding season in 2013. Wildlife artist Robert Fuller has witnessed barn owls producing double broods of up to six eggs and eleven chicks in 2014, indicating the best year on record. Decline in habitat due to loss of meadows and hedgerows has negatively impacted barn owl numbers, but conservation efforts like installing nest boxes and promoting wildlife-friendly farming practices are helping the species recover.

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T
hey may have been through some
tough times lately, but things are
starting to look up for barn owls in
the Yorkshire Wolds.“Several birds produced
double broods in 2014,”says local wildlife
artist Robert Fuller,“with
some birds having clutches
of up to six eggs and as
many as eleven chicks. Not
all the information is in yet,
but it’s the best year I’ve
known at least.”
It’s a very different story
from winter 2013, the
worst breeding season
since records began for the
ghostly white hunting bird,
so characteristic of the
Wolds.“There were no breeding barn owls
around the gallery at all,“ says Robert. The
year after was therefore all important, and
in his entertaining column for the Yorkshire
Post, he described how he monitored a pair
of breeding owls via close circuit television in
their nest box, and witnessed the first signs of
new hope:“The first egg was laid on April 1st
and six eggs followed at three day intervals,
with the last laid on Good Friday. For me these
were the most precious
eggs this Easter.”
Robert has been fascinated
with barn owls since
childhood. As well as
capturing them in many
of his beautiful paintings,
he is involved in their
conservation, and in 2006
set up the Wolds Barn
Owl Group along with
consultant ecologist Nick
Askew.“I’ve been putting
up nesting boxes for years, but started taking
it more seriously when we set up the group.”
So far, the Trust which has a special licence to
work with this Schedule 1 bird, has put up over
150 nesting boxes for barn owls in North and
Robert Fuller:
Barn Owls in the Wolds
We catch up with wildlife artist Robert Fuller to find out how barn
owls are faring this winter and what led to his fascination with these
incredible creatures
East Yorkshire. They also offer practical advice
and support to farmers and landowners,
who have an important part to play; decline
in habitat is the main reason owls are not as
numerous as they used to be.
“Everything’s changed,”explains Robert.
“We’ve lost 97% of traditional hay meadows,
which are being replaced by haylage and
silage and we’ve lost most of the hedgerows.
There’s the loss of traditional buildings too,
the brick barns where the owls often nested.”
Good news is that farmers can now
participate in government stewardship
schemes, which promote the management
of farmland in a wildlife friendly way. Rough
grassland margins, for example, can be left
around fields. In the Wolds, owls are also
offered a kind of natural protection.“Some
of these grass valleys are so steep that you
can’t get machinery on them,”says Robert,
pointing out one such valley through his
studio window.
With barn owls doing well in the Wolds this
winter, we could be likely to spot some while
we’re out and about.“In February, March
and April, they start hunting as part of pair
bonding over rough grassland, while it’s still
daylight. The best tip is to go out to look for
them just after bad weather, such as heavy
rain and wind. They wait, and they go out
afterwards. That’s the time I go to look for
them.”You might also see barn owls on the
nest box CCTV upstairs in Robert’s gallery, as
well as other nesting birds.
To find out more, Robert recommends
visiting the Barn Owl Trust website: www.
barnowltrust.org.uk.
The Robert
Fuller Gallery
The Robert Fuller Gallery at Fotherdale Farm
in Thixendale is open every day including
Sunday, 09:30 – 16:30 weekdays and
10:30 – 16:30 weekends. Visit his working
studio upstairs, and don’t miss the nest
box cams. For more information visit www.
robertefuller.com or call 01759 368355.
“In the Wolds,
owls are also
offered a kind
of natural
protection.”