Owl Story

AN OWL STORY

My name is Tom Burley. I live in central Wagga Wagga in Norman Street. I am in Year 8 at Kildare Catholic College. I've always been interested in animals and since I was eleven I've been particularly interested in birds.

The boobooks disappear

During summer I used to hear the boobook owls or mopokes around here.  But the yellow box tree which was their nesting site, was cut down in 2008.

Last summer for the first time there were no mopokes around and I missed their call in the night.

For more on bookbooks and owls, visit "The Owl Pages"

Getting the boobooks back

I decided with some friends that we should get some nesting boxes up in the trees and hope for the miracle of the owls' return.

Nesting boxes and shelter for other birds and animals

Then we decided  "Why stop with owls or even birds?" So we made the decision to put boxes up for other local birds and bats.

We got nesting boxes for boobook owls, wood ducks, yellow and eastern rosellas, striated pardalotes, kookaburras and some for bats to roost in. These are all animals that live in the area and have housing difficulties.

Animals find hollows hard to find as they only occur in older trees. The trouble is that when trees get older people get destructive and cut them down because people are cautious about branches falling.

Grant from Wagga Wagga City Council

Our school, Kildare College, appealed to Wagga Wagga City Council for a grant of $1000 for nesting boxes and a strong safe ladder so we could regularly check out our nesting boxes for exciting activity and eggs.

So far we have four nesting boxes up and have another eight to go to put up. Due to complications with the boxes we have missed the breeding season and will not know whether the birds will nest in the boxes till spring 2010 when the next breeding season takes off.

What's happening?

In the meantime our boxes will need care and supervision. They will have to be checked to make sure that they have not been taken over by bees or birds that we do not want like sparrows. Sometimes the boxes become loose and may be a danger to birds and people.

I have made a list of birds that I have seen near my home and school. Some live here. Some come regularly depending on what food is around.  Some just pop in for a short time.  And occasionally a new bird will come and decide to stay like the new residents in our backyard, the superb fairy wren and  the noisy friar bird who now lives in the next block.

What do you think of them?