Bournemouth, Nature & Wildlife | Posted on April 22nd, 2026 | return to news

Barn owls successful nesting in Hengistbury Head nature reserve

The pair of barn owls can be viewed on a YouTube livestream. At least four eggs have been laid.

Four months after reports that a barn owl chick was successfully raised at the nature reserve on Hengistbury Head, a pair of owls are once again breeding at the site.

The couple were recently spotted in the area and have moved into a nesting box on the site connected to a web camera. A livestream of the birds can be viewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/zPSuRQQsmE4.

At least four eggs have been laid in the nest, in a sign of the continuing success of nature recovery in the area.

The camera is sponsored by the Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group (CHOG), which records and promotes nature and animal sightings in the area.

The nesting box at the nature reserve was installed in 2013 in the apex of the Visitor Centre thatched barn. But it wasn’t until 2025 that a barn owl was attracted to use the nest.

According to Hengistbury Head nature reserve, barn owls usually lay four to six eggs with one egg laid every two to three days. The baby owls — called owlets — take just over a month to hatch; when born, they are tiny, pink, and have no feathers. They will be ready to leave the nest at two months old.

The reserve said: “Attracting the barn owl to Hengistbury Head is a conservation success story. By managing Wick Fields for 30 years as an open, cattle grazed, grassland with pockets of woodland and hedgerows — it has developed as the perfect habitat for the hunting of voles and mice as well as small birds. Don’t be surprised to see prey brought into the nest box.”

To learn more about nature recovery in the area, visit https://www.chog.org.uk.