{"id":2197173,"date":"2026-10-13T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2197173"},"modified":"2026-10-13T11:22:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:22:00","slug":"owls-ringed-to-measure-impact-of-purbecks-nature-friendly-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2197173","title":{"rendered":"Owls ringed to measure impact of Purbeck’s nature-friendly farming"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/22a2\/live\/82c3a8e0-c6e4-11f1-bf38-57dc5cd42af2.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"KateKate Fox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The ringed owls will be tracked to see how well nature-friendly farming is helping their numbers<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Barn owl chicks have been ringed in Purbeck for the first time to help track their movements and if the area’s conservation-focused farming is working.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 15 chicks and one adult were ringed at nest sites across three farmland sites in a partnership between Birds of Poole Harbour, Carey Ringing Station and the National Trust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mark Singleton, Purbeck’s National Trust countryside manager, said: “This is an exciting project and a first for us in Purbeck. Although barn owl numbers have fallen significantly over the past century, there are encouraging signs they may be recovering locally.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Set to run every year, the project hopes to expand with more nest boxes put up next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"KateKate Fox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The project hopes to expand next year<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Singleton said National Trust tenant farmers were managing the land to support wildlife with areas of longer grass, maintaining hedgerows and patches of scrub.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He said: “These habitats support the voles and other small mammals that barn owls rely on. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“By monitoring ringed birds over many years, we’ll be able to assess how effective these measures are and continually improve what we’re doing.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kate Fox, licenced bird ringer and ornithologist from Carey Ringing Station, said: “Ringing provides invaluable scientific data about these birds, which can’t be gained from observations alone. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Barn owls are striking birds, but it’s very difficult to tell individuals apart. If birds move to a different nest box, we won’t know whether it’s a new pair or birds we’ve recorded elsewhere unless they have been ringed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The ringing was carried out under a special licence and follows strict guidance from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Barn owls are a Schedule 1 breeding species, meaning it is illegal to disturb them during the breeding season without a licence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/ck1wvd3xyyjpo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/22a2\/live\/82c3a8e0-c6e4-11f1-bf38-57dc5cd42af2.jpg”] Kate Fox The ringed owls will be tracked to see how well nature-friendly farming is helping their numbers Barn owl chicks have been ringed in Purbeck for the first time to help track their movements and if the area’s conservation-focused farming is working. The 15 chicks and one adult were ringed at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2197173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2197173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2197173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2197173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2197173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2197173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2197173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}