It's not all about totalising...

...but it was oddly satisfying when Duncan and I notched up the 101st Barn Owl pullus ringed last night. Especially as it was in a box that the owner thought had 'pigeons' in it. In south Notts and the eastern Vale of Belvoir, it's been an okay year for the Barn Owls, with the number of pullus ringed 50% up on 2010. However, there has been perhaps twice as many control adults as usual with breeding females moving boxes. Presumably this dispersal is down to the hard weather last winter. Elsewhere, the picture is very mixed, with poor or no breeding in the Lincs/Yorks Wolds, but record numbers of second broods in west Lincs. Just two more boxes to check later this month, and that should be it for this year.
Jim