Last year’s Tawny owl release project was a great success, with 10 of the 11 owls surviving the initial six week period. The project is running again this summer and, on the 28th July, nine Tawny owls were released in four local woodlands near The Hawk Conservancy Trust. All the owls have been named after moons of the solar system to tie in with their nocturnal behaviour.

Emily tracking an owl

As with last year’s project each owl was fitted with a small radio transmitter on a central tail feather. This gives out a signal and allows us to track their movements with a hand held aerial receiver. We have been tracking the owls daily since their release, recording their habitat, location and behaviour.

A week on from the release date the majority of the owls are doing well and are beginning to disperse from their initial release sites. Some have been spotted in their roosts and are looking strong and healthy. Many of the owls have been tracked to hedgerows and woodland edges, which are great habitats for small mammal prey such as voles, shrews and mice. Towards the end of the summer we should see the owls dispersing even further as they try to find their own territories before the winter. We’re all hoping the owls continue to do well and will keep you updated on their progress!

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23/08/06

We are now four weeks on from the release of our Tawny owls. Most of the owls have moved from their initial release sites but are generally not venturing too far from the release area. The following is a brief update on each owl …

Tawny 1 – Phoebe

Phoebe moved from her release wood into an adjacent woodland within the first week of her release. She has since remained within an area within this wood. Phoebe was seen flying on one of the sponsor evenings.

Tawny 2 – Ariel

Ariel moved out of her release wood, to a hedgerow a few fields north of the wood, on the second day of tracking. She remained within this hedgerow for a week before moving north across the field to a farm and then moved back to the hedgerow. Unfortunately on the 13th day of tracking we found the transmitter on a fence, so we can no longer track her movements. However, she seemed to be surviving well up until this point, so we are confident that she will continue to do well.

Tawny 3 – Elara

Elara was released a couple of weeks after the other owls, as her tail feathers had not grown enough to allow the attachment of the transmitter. She initially moved north from the release site, but has since returned to the release area. It was wonderful to hear Elara calling on one of the sponsor evenings.

Tawny 4 – Io

After the initial week in his release site Io moved north to a small plantation. The signal for Io was difficult to locate for three days, which was worrying. We have since tracked Io to a village 2kms from his release site. He seems to like the area and has remained there ever since! We have seen him during tracking in the morning and also on a sponsor evening.

Tawny 5 – Puck and Tawny 11 – Titon

Tawny Owl No 11 - Titon

Puck and Titon spent the first week north of their release site moving between the woodland and hedgerows. They were always found close to each other! They then both moved south of the release site. Titon was seen in a hedgerow during an afternoon tracking session before he moved to the southern part of the woodland. Sadly we found the transmitter from Titon on day 20, however, we believe that he is still alive and within the same area.

Tawny 6 – Callisto

For the first week of tracking Callisto remained within his release wood. He then moved south to the edge of a plantation and he seems to like the area. Callisto has been seen roosting and flying during our tracking sessions.

Tawny 7 – Ganymede

Ganymede stayed in the release wood for one week before moving north to another of the release woods. He has remained there ever since. He was seen flying on one of the sponsor evenings and we think we may have heard him calling on evening.

Tawny 8 – Miranda and Tawny 9 – Oberon

Unfortunately these two owls did not survive their first week. We think that these deaths were due to predation by buzzards.

Tawny 10 – Triton

Triton was fitted with a transmitter but it came off the night before release day. Unfortunately the other central tail feather was not suitable to attach the transmitter to. It was unfair to keep him in captivity any longer, so he was released without a transmitter near to where he was originally found.

The Tawny owl research team

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