Strangford: Baby barn owls successfully bred at Co Down farm

David reached out to Ulster Wildlife a decade ago when he encountered a barn owl during an evening walk across his fields, and decided he wanted to do more to encourage them to breed on his land.

After the nine nest boxes were installed, nothing happened for around four years.

He says the “eureka moment” came when he heard the “young squeaking in the box, calling for food,” and he’s had baby barn owls every year since.

But with the highs, there have been lows too.

This year’s first brood of chicks on the farm didn’t survive, which Ulster Wildlife says “just happens and is nature”.