We have been renting our home, set amongst farming land, since last November, and were told that there was a pair of owls in the old shed on the next property.
Kept looking but saw none. Finally there was an owl, but just one. I had been hearing the "barking" for the previous few days and didn't click that it was an owl returned until I was out walking and spotted it roosting in the shed!!
Pretty sad that there was only one.
Last week my husband said he thought the owl was looking small and tatty and the next afternoon when I quietly checked, it was a second owl.
So for the last week we have been thrilled that perhaps it's a breeding pair.
I'm going into the department in town tomorrow to see who would be interested to know that these owls are present. If no encouragement here, I'll contact South Gippsland Landcare. Perhaps we could be installing some nesting boxes in the garden?
It's such a treat seeing these birds. We are lucky!
Great story, you are indeed very lucky to have barking owls in your area and especially two. It would be great to see some photos. Nest boxes are a great idea to have in your garden as lots of birds use them.
Hi, I would think these Owls will have been around there for some time, even before you moved in. They will exactly know what to do and where to go.
I have all kinds of Owls close by, but if it was me, I wouldn't tell too many people about them.
I have Barking Owls in the bush behind us, but haven't seen them inside our shed. We used to have a Boobook in the shed during the day. Do you have a photo?
M-L
Hi, tmjh. Before putting up nest boxes you might want to determine which bird species in your area are likely to be attracted by which types of nest boxes. If you have birds attracted to your property by natural food sources then your nest boxes need to be designed to cater for those bird species (assuming they don't already have nesting hollows) so that you provide a more comprehensive habitat for them. You can check for nest box designs via this site's home page.