Some readers might be aware that 2025 was a very poor year for cavity-nesting birds of prey such as Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, and Kestrels. Only 132 young birds were ringed from project boxes in 2025, which is considerably lower than in previous years. 2013 was the last time we recorded as few in the nest boxes. A lack of small mammal prey is one of the likely reasons for the poor season, along with unfavourable weather conditions. The Small Mammal Project, a project within the British Raptor Programme, focuses on monitoring abundance and diversity of small mammal species in the local area to the Trust that overlap with locations of our nest boxes. In 2025, only after six weeks of surveying did we find the first Field Vole of the year! Field Voles, also known as Short-tailed voles are one of the primary prey species for Kestrels. The low capture rate across the Small Mammal Project combined with poor reports from the nest boxes raised alarm bells. This year, however, things have bounced back and the nest box monitoring has felt busier than ever.

General observations from the wider Raptor Nest Box Project in 2026 include birds nesting earlier in the season and larger clutch sizes; a record of 9 eggs were found in a Barn Owl box this Spring! It has been a welcome change to the previous year when we had just over 10 confirmed Barn Owl fledglings in total. As of the end of June, we have already ringed more than 250 Kestrels, 200 Barn Owls and 100 Tawny Owls across our project area. This surpasses the 2025 total of 132 quite considerably and given the early nesting of Barn Owls this year, there is even a possibility of second nesting attempts later in the year. The Small Mammal Project has also been reflecting the success from the boxes, with 37 field voles being caught in six weeks of surveying and 150 captures of a variety of small mammal species to date.

Other positive news includes achieving our target fundraiser back in 2025; ‘£60k for Kestrels’. Thank you! As a result of the many generous donations, the Conservation and Research Department bought several GPS tags for Kestrels. These solar-powered GPS tags can record fine-scale movements of these birds over the course of the breeding season. This is key for understanding what habitats they use, how far they travel from the nest box and how frequently they provision to their chicks. This year, we have successfully fitted four Kestrels with these tags in the Hampshire area; two females and two males. This project is ‘growing wings’, and we hope to deploy a few more of these tags in 2027 and see what data we can retrieve from the birds tagged this year.

With the increased productivity of the nest boxes, 2026 has been a ‘record year’ for the Kestrel Colour Ring Project. Under a BTO licence, Dr Matt Stevens has been fitting these rings as part of the British Raptor Programme since 2015. With a previous record of 140 kestrel colour rings in a season, over 200 colour rings have been used in 2026 already, with more expected. Quite the year for Kestrels! These rings are bright blue and marked with a white unique code variation; i.e. “A H 7”. The codes can be read at distance with binoculars or telescopes and reported back to us

If you notice a colour ring on a Kestrel, please let us know by emailing Matt@hawkconservancy.org with the location, date and time you spotted the bird. If you can take a photo of the Kestrel with the tag, that would be ideal, but we know this is easier said than done! This information is incredibly valuable and helps us to understand more about the movements and dispersal of Kestrel fledglings from our boxes.

Finally, we couldn’t do all the in-depth monitoring work for Kestrels without the nest boxes. An expansion to our group of dedicated and hardworking nest box Volunteers in late 2025 has meant that over 130 new boxes have been built for the British Raptor Programme. This new nest box building team has been a fantastic addition to the Conservation and Research Department; their time and skills have helped us to build up a good stock of boxes in preparation for replacing damaged or worn nest boxes, installing new boxes in the Autumn of 2026 and will set us up to provide even more for Kestrels in 2027!

We are delighted to embark on a new conservation partnership between the Hawk Conservancy Trust and Kynren – The Storied Lands.  The partnership will support the development of conservation and research work focused on birds of prey across the North East of England, expanding knowledge about bird of prey populations in the region and contributing to wider national research efforts.

The same methodologies used for the Trust’s Raptor Nest Box Project (RNBP) and Raptor Survey Project will be applied to the project in the North East. Field surveys, habitat analysis and a variety of other conservation monitoring approaches will be used to help strengthen the understanding of status of birds of prey populations in northern England. Centred on County Durham and surrounding areas, the project will be developed in collaboration with other organisations and interested parties to complement ongoing ornithological research in the North East.

By bringing together data, observations and expertise from a range of sources, the project with Kynren hopes to operate on a larger scale than previously seen, building a clearer picture of how bird of prey populations are faring and identifying opportunities to support their long-term conservation.

A central focus will be the Kestrel, one of Britain’s most recognisable birds of prey that is now Amber listed as a species of conservation concern, with populations declining in many areas of the UK for reasons that are not yet fully understood.

The Trust’s long-term Kestrel research programme in southern England, has been running for more than a decade to investigate these trends and through the new partnership, similar research will begin in the North of England, allowing findings from different parts of the country to be compared and contribute valuable information to the national picture.

Dr Matt Stevens, British Projects Manager at the Trust, is working closely with staff from Kynren who will work alongside volunteers to play an important role in the programme.  This will create new opportunities for people with an interest in wildlife and conservation to become directly involved in research and fieldwork.

Kynren – The Storied Lands opens this summer in Bishop Auckland, County Durham as the UK’s first live-action daytime park, featuring five spectacular shows and immersive experiences inspired by history, myth and legend. Set within the wider park, The Lost Feather sees more than 250 birds take to the skies in an awe-inspiring story of flight and conservation.

Penny Smout, CEO of the Hawk Conservancy Trust, said: “We are pleased to be working with Kynren and The Lost Feather to extend our research and conservation efforts into another part of the country.

“Partnerships like this help build knowledge over time and encourage people to engage with the conservation of birds of prey in their own communities.”

Jimmy Robinson, Curator of Birds and Conservation at The Lost Feather, said: “This partnership gives us the opportunity to contribute to the wider understanding of birds of prey in the North East while working alongside other organisations and individuals who already care deeply about these species.

“By sharing data, experience and expertise we can help strengthen the evidence base th  at supports long term conservation.” As well as Kestrels, the nest box programme will also support Barn Owls, Tawny Owls and Little Owls. The aim being to increase the nesting opportunities for these species across a landscape where the availability of natural cavities and other traditional nest sites may have declined.  Data generated from the Raptor Survey Project will help us to identify the current status of raptor species across the North East and help in targeting future conservation actions.

The research programme will begin this year and is intended to develop over the coming years as further partnerships, volunteers and research opportunities emerge.

It is always an exciting moment when a new bird arrives to live with us here at the Trust. Very often, a bird will arrive here as a partner for another bird as part of conservation breeding programmes or, at the very least, they are a species that we’ve cared for here before. From time to time though, we get the opportunity to work with not only a brand new individual but a completely new species to us.

At the end of June, the Bird Team excitedly welcomed a young Greyish Eagle-Owl who it is hoped will become a part of the Wings of Africa display and take a starring role in some of our special evening events and experiences.

This is a species that you may have never heard of before so let me give you a bit of background. The Greyish Eagle-Owl (also known as a Vermiculated Eagle-Owl – a more inspiring name in my book!) is a sub-Saharan species of owl that preys upon small mammals, reptiles and large insects – typically hunting them from a still perch. They have even been seen waiting at cave entrances for bats to emerge before hunting them on the wing and catching them mid-flight!

Once grown, this little one’s feathers will be (unsurprisingly) grey-ish with lots of beautiful markings, allowing them to camouflage perfectly within their habitat around cliffs, caves or against the bark of a tree. This is something I can’t wait to see come to life against the bark of the tree now installed in our Savannah Arena which also doubles as a vulture nesting tree as part of the show.

At the moment, the name of the game for this youngster is ‘growing, growing and more growing’! Even in the short time this owl has been with us, they have grown massively – from around 260g to over 350g. Like so many birds of prey they have a fast growth rate that needs to be backed up with a ready and regular supply of food. Incredibly, by the time this owl reaches just 10 weeks old most of the growing will be done. As a member of the team who lives here on-site, it makes perfect sense that the job of round the clock feeds – early in the morning and late into the evening – fell to me. To be the first person to care for this little bird before they become a full member of our flying team later in the year is an honour. Senior Bird Team Member, Ryan, is planned to take over once training begins and what a treat he has in store.

You may have noticed that I’ve not mentioned this bird by sex – at the moment that is an unknown. As they grow, we’ll likely find out as females are bigger than the males. I’ve also not mentioned a name. That’s also an unknown – look out for us asking you for help with naming this youngster on our social media channels very soon!

I, for one cannot wait to see how this little bird grows and eagerly await the first display ever at the Hawk Conservancy Trust to feature a Greyish Eagle-Owl. In the meantime come and see, you may be lucky enough to spot him or her in one of the aviaries as they settle in, if you visit us over the coming weeks.