Yesterday we were in the rolling countryside of Gloucestershire on a farm which has been farmed to Conservation Grade standards for the past 25 years. Farmer Mark Tufnell is taking part in the CG Barn Owl Project (see www.naturefriendlyowls.org for more info about the project) and last year a pair of Barn Owls nesting in one of the owl boxes on the farm sucessfully reared 5 chicks to fledging. This was the highest number of chicks fledged from a single box out of the 50 farms that took part.

Mark was presented with the CG Barn Owl trophy by the conservationist and TV presenter Professor David Bellamy OBE. Professor Bellamy said, “If we are to seriously tackle the decline in farmland birds, insects and mammals, we need to encourage conservation programmes that are scientifically proven, yet practical and sustainable. The Conservation Grade way of farming does just this.” David encouraged consumers to seek out Nature Friendly food and do their bit to help farmland wildlife.

Casting an interested eye over the proceedings was Luna, the Barn Owl. Luna lives at the Barn Owl Centre (www.barnowl.co.uk). She seemed to enjoy all the attention and was unfazed by the cold wind.  Monitoring of the nest boxes will soon be starting again as the 2012 breeding season begins.