the bad weather causing it to be chilled; it was fat and naked when found dead. The distribution of Jackdaw nests in 2011 is shown in figure 12 on page 7.
External reporting Reporting of the results to BTO takes place through their nest recording and ringing schemes. The effect of the project on the numbers of these reports in Suffolk is shown in the tables 2 and 3 below for Barn Owls. Year
2005 2006 2007
Submitted by SCBOP Submitted by others Total
0 10 10
0 4 4
57 31 88
2008
2009 2010
121 0 121
73 16 89
2011
129 6 135
150 6 156
Table 2 Barn Owl nest records in Suffolk Year
2005 2006 2007
2008
2009 2010
2011
40 0 3
161 0 14
142 0 19
164 246 0 0 22 12
368 0 21
Pulli Juvenile Adult
24 4 1
49 0 1
51 0 0
33 1 2
50 5 2
50 4 1
Pulli Juvenile Adult
64 4 4
210 0 15
193 0 19
197 296 1 5 24 14
418 4 22
Submitted by SCBOP
Pulli Juvenile Adult
Submitted by others
Total
0 0 0
Table 3 Barn Owl ringing records in Suffolk
From these tables the large effect on data gathering in the county by the project can be clearly seen. On a national scale the Suffolk Barn Owl pulli made up 1.6%, 2.1%, 3.5%, 2.7%, 4.3% and 5.1% of the total ringed nationally in the years 2006 to 2011 inclusive. For other large cavity nesting birds recorded in the project sites, the ringing totals for Suffolk per year of the project activity are given in Figure 10. This shows an increase in all species except Jackdaws, which tend to nest early in the year before monitors visit to check for Barn Owls and hence are not found as often in the nest boxes. Most Jackdaw reports are based on finding the empty nests following fledging. These old nests are removed and so the finding of a new nest signifies activity in the current breeding year.
Conclusions and the future The project has been successful almost beyond the dreams of its founders. The monitoring of 1400 nest sites in the county, some 650 being project-supplied boxes, easily exceeds the first aim.
Figure 13 Number of large cavity nesting birds ringed in Suffolk
8
THE HARRIER – October 2012
