Baby owls have a nice ring to them
GREENSIDE – The EcoSolutions crew together with some community members gathered to witness the ringing of the owlets in the occupied owl box on 51 Gleneagles Road.
Community members not only have to look after themselves but they from time to time render care towards fellow species such as birds, or more specifically owls. The EcoSolutions crew is known for ‘giving a hoot’ about the owls and they ringed owlets with the community last year. They have done it again this year by ringing owlets in an owl box in Greenside, Gleneagles Road.
According to Sara Orchardson from EcoSolutions, an owl box was installed in October 2016 after an owlet was found on the ground below the tree and the nest in the tree was flooded. The spotted eagle owl, then an owlet, was ringed and has been breeding ever since. “We checked on the owl box over the weekend and were lucky enough to see two owlets in the owl box. The owlets were very active and we believe that they will fledge any day now.”
Orchardson added that this was a great community project where they used Safrings which they got from Cape Town and they went through to Safring Database which would, in turn, provide information on the owls’ ring dates and location. “The most recent ring recovery we had was in Centurion. We ringed three owlets in an occupied owl box in October 2017 and one of those owlets was picked up in August this year. From the data, one could see that it fledged and it travelled about 8,8km in ten months.”
Director at EcoSolutions Jonathan Haw added that there were about 20 owl boxes in Parkhurst and they were encouraging people to make use of owls to catch rats.
“EcoSolutions also services and maintains owl boxes which have been installed and we recommend servicing the owl boxes especially now as spotted eagle owl breeding season is underway,” added Orchardson.
If anyone is keen to join the Owl Box Project, please contact Sara at info@ecosolutions.co.za.
Would you be keen on using owls to catch rats? Tweet your responses to RK_Gazette
Related Articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/239348/owl-box-installed-in-fearnhead-park/
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/235157/giving-owls-ring/
