Barn owl webcam at Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve now LIVE!
You can now watch the nesting pair and their four eggs (so far) in colour and high definition
Four eggs have been laid at Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve near Weymouth as the yearly barn owl webcam goes live.
Dorset Wildlife Trust's website is giving wildlife lovers in Dorset and around the world the opportunity to tune in live at any time of day or night to follow the progress of a pair of resident barn owls nesting and raising their chicks.
This year, viewers are able to watch the owls in colour and much higher definition thanks to the new upgraded webcam which was installed in the nesting box at the beginning of the season.
Over the past few years, tens of thousands of viewers have followed the progress of the barn owls and witnessed first-hand their intriguing behaviours, including preening, mating and eating, and hear their characteristic chittering, screeching or hissing, all live via the webcam. With the breeding season now upon us, the pair have already produced four eggs and there may well be more to follow.
Emily Newton, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Landowner Liaison Officer said:
“The new upgraded webcam is giving us the opportunity to see the barn owls so much more clearly and it’s very exciting to be able to view this pair already settling into their nest. We are very much hoping that they will successfully breed this year - the rougher grassland fields at Lorton Meadows provide plentiful supplies of food such as field vole to help them to rear their young.
"Other rough grassland sites in Dorset will also support prey for the barn owls, in Dorset we work with farmers and advise them to manage grass margins and field corners to increase hunting habitat for species such as owls.”
Our thanks go to to Wildlife Windows for installing and maintaining the new camera. Streaming these majestic creatures wouldn’t be possible without their support.