gerry Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Hi just a follow on from a question I asked about what could be living in my chimney,amazingly for me it was Owls Barn ones I would think Ii know because I opened a small fireplace door and saw them ,we decided to let nature take its course, so think they will leave when fully grown, they are fed each night by mum to a lot of shrieking but thats all the noise they are quiet lodgers ,are they protected in France and is there a society to phone for help thanks gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I'm amazed, where do the owls access the chimney? It would be more than a little surprising if they were coming down from the top, most unusual.Anyway, yes they are protected in all European Union Countries, if you can tell me where you are, I'll see if there is a bird protection group near you. This, in itself, may not be a solution, because technically they would have to get authorisation to handle them, it's a complicated world.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Hi Chris we are in Mayenne but we think they went two days ago ,we were surprised they could fly but there is a large flat top of stone on our chimney, but it is suspended on small concrete piers allowing room to get in, flying is another matter,the mother seemed to be training them at night as she used to perch on top of the chimney calling to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suandpete Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 We have a Maison de Maitre with 4 chimneys - several of which splitinto two. We permanently have jackdaws living in three of them(the fourth has a woodburner with an internal steel flue andcowl). Last year to our surprise we had barn owls sharing achimney with jackdaws - one in each section. Every morning thejackdaws all sit on the top of their chimneys before they fly off towherever - and at night we actually saw the baby barn owls sitting onthe top of the chimney that they shared with the jackdaws - a day shiftand a night shift. It was the distinct sound like someoneraking gravel that first made us look up there at about midnight - andthe babies were up there - probably just before they were old enough toactually leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 How fantastic! Did you manage to get any photos in the light evenings? Or was it still too dark to get anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suandpete Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Unfortunately not - too dark. The adults are extremely noisythough - not in the nest but we have a large cedar and a redwood in our"back yard" - so it is ideal for them. They're not calle dscreechowls for nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 [quote user="Suandpete"]Unfortunately not - too dark. The adults are extremely noisy though - not in the nest but we have a large cedar and a redwood in our "back yard" - so it is ideal for them. They're not calle dscreech owls for nothing![/quote]I am sure Chris will correct me if I am wrong, but screech owls are not the same thing as barn owls - they are tawny owls. We had little owls in our grenier when we bought the house, they moved to the eaves of the house after we moved in and now live in the orchard as we made too much noise with our renovations for their liking! Hence calling the place 'Le Hibou'. I love them and we hear them most nights, and see them at dusk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Barn Owls do indeed screech!Go to: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ scroll down to A to Z of birds on the left and click on it, then click on "O" for OWLS and click on the audio symbols to listen to the sounds different owls make.Back in a bit, going to water the veg.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Well, you live and learn as they say! I always thought Barn Owls gave the traditional 'hoot' we think of with owls. Mind you the RSPB little owl did not sound very much like ours usually do.[8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Don't forget yours are French owls, Mary, so will sound a little different to the RSPB versions. [:-))]I only put that smilie in 'cos it's called a Woot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 [img]http://bestsmileys.com/doh/3.gif[/img] Now why didn't I think of that?[:D]One year one of the babies somehow flew into the house and my husband found it sitting on the window sill blinking at him.[blink] He covered it with a towel and gently placed it outside - where mum or dad found it and took it back home[:D] Unfortunately I wasn't there at the time, and never saw it, and there was no film in the camera to take a picture, isn't that always the way? [:@](before we had a digital) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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