The Owl Show

On the evening of July 4^th, I walked out to the conservation easement to check on the goats and horses we have grazing there to make sure they weren’t too freaked out by the fireworks. As I approached the oak trees I was suddenly aware of a multitude of barn owls. They were making their hissing shrieks and flying back and forth over my head. I counted at least six owls. I figured they were mostly young ones newly fledged. It was clear that I wasn’t wanted there, so I backed off and took a different route.

When we first moved here in the spring of 2000, there were barn owls living in the roof of the old milking parlor. That summer we were treated to what we called the Owl Show. We would turn off all the lights in the house and just watch the owls flying back and forth between the old barns and sheds on the property.

The next year we tackled the project of turning that old milking parlor into a usable packing shed. Steve’s brother Will was helping us out at the time. He started fixing the roof in the part of the building that had a couple enclosed rooms and an attic. He pried off a rotting board and came face to face with eight pairs of owl eyes. Four little owlets, each a little bigger than the next, stared out at him. He gingerly replaced the board and we put the project on the back burner until the next winter.

Every farmer loves barn owls. They are extremely helpful predators, feeding mostly on mice, voles, and rats. One owl might eat 3-4 prey animals per night, and try to bring that many back to the nest for each owlet. This can work out to dozens of rodents each night for one nesting pair and their brood. Who could ask for a better pest control method?

We didn’t want to disrupt the barn owls, but we were going to be fixing up or tearing down all the old buildings. We got some plans and constructed four barn owl boxes. We installed two in the conservation easement area, and another two on the other side of the farm in the riparian corridor below the blueberry patch. All four boxes were occupied the first year we put them up, and as far as we can tell, most or all of the boxes have been in use every season since.

So, while I didn’t go see a fireworks show on July 4^th this year, I did get to see something spectacular in my backyard — the Owl Show.