Success Stories
Here are a few stories from members who’ve told us about the owl activity in their gardens:
Owls
First up we are delighted to report that OBP
member, Carl Liebenberg, has had ANOTHER clutch of owls in his
box, bringing to three the number of clutches that have been
born in his owl box in the last year alone. Those of you who have been
members since at least 2006 will remember Carl from our Spring
Newsletter. His owlets were ringed by Karen Dixon from FreeMe, and we
are thrilled to show you pictures of Bettie and Diana. We know The
Liebenberg’s are the envy of many members, but the fact that this is
happening proves that a) if you are patient your owl will come
and b) once they breed in your box, they return year on year to
do so.
Jonathan put in an owl box because they cut the
trees down next door to put in clusters as the owls needed a new home.
Three months ago two owls nested there and now have chicks. The mom and
dad sit on the tree beside, guarding the box.They are spotted eagle owls. Every evening we check on them to see that they are ok.
One day my puppy Cindy barked so much I had to go and see what was happening. The baby owl had flown down from the tree and was sitting in the bushes. Cindy was guarding the baby owl and she looked after it until it was able to look after itself and catch prey.
OBP member Jim Hickey wrote to us in August with some absolutely super news:
The owl box
Jonathon installed some years ago was occupied last year for the first
time, resulting in one beautiful chick, which gave us much pleasure
observing its development. The mother ensured we kept our distance and
on one occasion swooped down on Wilson our gardener clipping his head
with her talons because he attempted to move her chick from the
driveway.Dave Winckler’s owl box in Inanda has new arrivals in it! His box was installed in November 2005. Dave has now contacted us telling us he had occupancy:
Your staff installed an Owl box in my garden
approximately two years ago and I am pleased to tell you that the rules
appear to have been finally understood and the box is occupied by an
Eagle Owl with its mate in constant attendance in spite of being
badgered by grey loeries and sundry other birds.
Please remember to call us AS SOON as you notice your owls are on eggs. We need to arrange for the ringing of your chicks and we can only do so with sufficient notice that they are a) on their way or b) have arrived! The window of opportunity for ringing is only a few weeks so PLEASE LET US KNOW IN GOOD TIME.
Bats
Adrienne Adsetts from St. Michael’s Church in Bryanston also tells us that their bat box is now occupied:
BushBabys?
Of
course, many of you don’t only have owl boxes. Being the
environmentally-minded folks you are, a lot of you also have bat houses
and barbet logs, most of which are occupied as we speak…but not always
by their intended residents! Prepare for an overload of cute and cries
of “Awwwwww…” across the country when you see this pic, sent to us by
OBP members, Kim and Alistair McAdam, who have had their barbet log in
Wateford Estate occupied by this adorable little fellow...And he’s not the only one taking advantage of a cozy space! OBP member, Richard Crosby, from Lyttleton Manor also has a Lesser Bushbaby in his owl box! He wrote to us saying
Next up is an amazing story sent to us by OBP member, Tanya Rosenberg, who wrote:
We own a small
holding in Broederstroom and are privileged to have the most incredible
wildlife activity in our own garden. Around three years ago we decided
to purchase some owl boxes, as we could hear various owls in our garden
in the evenings and wanted to try and encourage them to stay.The ‘Barn Owl’ box was placed high up in a large tree, only about 5
metres from the house. That box remained empty for about 5 months, and
then to our amazement a pair of Barn Owls moved in. They seemed to stay
for quite a few months, but however, did not appear to be breeding
there. Roughly 6 months later the Barn Owls moved on, and a pair of
White Faced Owls occupied the box.
To our delight, things started happening and we saw the first signs of
a youngster peering at us. This became a daily occurrence.
The White Faced
Owls have now moved on and we were really hoping that they would be
back for a second successful breeding year. This however was not to be,
as a family of Galago’s (Lesser Bushbaby) has now moved in. Recently I
counted as many as 12 bush babies peeping at me from the box. Prior to
occupying the owl box only one pair used to occupy a nesting log.
During our last count there were roughly still 8 Bush babies occupying
the box. Some of the other Galago’s (Lesser Bushbaby) have moved on and
are sharing the environment with a family of Green Wood Hoopoes and a
pair of Crested Barbets. Needless to say, it’s time to expand their
homes and buy some more owl boxes which have proven to be quite an
asset to our garden and the environment.
Holy flying fox! It's a nursery for orphaned bats