Lonehill owlets get their new rings
LONEHILL – Sarah Orchardson from Eco Solutions explained that the servicing of owl boxes is extremely important for owls.
Three spotted eagle owlets located in a complex in Lonehill were ringed with South African Ringing Scheme (SAF) bands by Eco Solutions’ Owl Box Project on 3 September.
Residents in the complex took photographs of the owls in their box in the tree and a few even used binoculars, eager to see the owls.
The SAF rings that were placed on the owlets include information such as where they were ringed, the date, the age and species of the owl. The information is sent to the University of Cape Town which holds the SAF ring database.
Louise and Glen Dowie, the residents in whose garden the owls were located and ringed, said the owls had been in their garden since the beginning of the year.
“We knew they were there since we had seen them around early January. We only took action and contacted Eco Solutions in April,” Louise said.
Sara Orchardson of Eco Solutions gave a brief talk on the owls and how, once hatched, owlets become owlets in about 35 days. “We started this project around 20 years ago because we saw the nesting sites in urban areas were not suitable for the owlets. They kept falling out and getting injured,” she said.
The servicing of owl boxes, according to Orchardson, is extremely important for owls as they take on their new homes, especially for owlets once they hatch. In these boxes would contain enough material to keep the eggs from rolling around.
“The particular box was installed about three years ago, but the previous owner didn’t service it, and it then just became a box in a tree,” added Orchardson.
“Once Louise [Dowie] had serviced the box, eggs were laid a few weeks later as it had attracted the owls.”
Once the owls were ringed by Eco Solutions staff member, Hussein Moyo, he put the owlets back in their box in the Dowie garden.
