A large family of owls living in a field in St Peters now enjoys a sky-high view of the parish following a donation of recycled street lights for their tree top home from Guernsey Electricity.
Local resident, Chris Atkinson, inherited an old owl box in the field he and his family purchased behind their garden and discovered during the lockdown that it contained two adult barn owls, along with their four, young boisterous owlets.
Chris consulted local conservationist Vic Froome, who advised him to install additional boxes as the original home would soon be too small for the family of six. Having bought three new boxes, Chris then needed a way of installing them in his field around 12 feet above the ground, so he turned to Guernsey Electricity for help.
Sally-Ann David, Operations Director at Guernsey Electricity, said the company was delighted to supply and help install poles using three galvanised poles which were previously used for on-Island street lighting lights. Engineers at the company drilled four bolt holes on each pole to affix the owl boxes.
“We had a limited number of unusable streetlights so this was an ideal opportunity to recycle them and help Chris and his family of owls. “As a company, we are very aware of our responsibilities for the environment, including biodiversity and have been very involved with the States in putting together the recently announced 2020 Strategy for Nature.”
The boxes were installed in mid-July and by all accounts, the feathered family are very pleased with their new homes.
