Owl Prowl
Rickerby Park event
(Date of issue: Tuesday, 10 May 2011)
An ‘Owl Prowl’ will be held in Rickerby Park on Thursday, 19
May, at 7pm.
The event is open to all and is in celebration of the completion
of an ‘Owls in the Community’ project. It will provide the
opportunity to learn more about some of the owls and night time
creatures which can be found in and around Carlisle and marks the
end of the three year project to provide suitable and safe nest
boxes for owls.
The World Owl Trust, working in partnership with Carlisle City
Council, and with funding from the Cumbria Waste Management
Environment Trust, have put up nest boxes for owls in suitable
areas of habitat across many of the parks and greenspaces of
Carlisle.
Working with many schools and community groups from across the
city, the aim was to make people more aware of what species they
could see or more likely, hear in their local area. Rickerby Park
itself has both Tawny Owl and the less common Little Owl living
around the park, with the majestic Barn Owl often seen hunting the
banks of the River Eden.
Altogether 20 boxes were made with the help of community groups
like Denton Woodcraft, with many local school children getting
stuck in to learning all about owls and the diet of a hunting owl.
An education pack, kindly funded by the Hadfield Trust, has also
been launched free to the primary schools of the city for children
to get out of the classroom and learn more about their local
wildlife habitats.
Hilary Lange, UK Conservation Officer for the World Owl Trust,
said:
“This project has been really enjoyable, working with so many
different groups from the community and we have found that people
of all ages have had such an interest in their local owls. Although
the project is now coming to a close, the boxes will still be
monitored for use in the future and this event will give people an
idea of how that work can contribute to the conservation of owl’s
right across the country.”
The event will be held in Rickerby Park on Thursday 19 May, at
7pm. There will be a display of some of the work achieved since the
project began and a chance to have a guided walk around the park to
see if any of the resident owls can be spotted or heard in the
area. There will also be a chance to have a look at some of the
field signs that owls leave behind and to meet, up close and
personal, an owl from the Trust’s own World Owl Centre at
Muncaster.
Anyone wishing to attend the event should meet in Rickerby Park
car park (the main riverside car park). Starting at 7pm, it will
last approximately two hours. Accompanied children are welcome.
Suitable outdoor clothing and footwear must be worn, as the walk
will take place over uneven ground. Please wrap up warm and bring a
torch. For more information contact Hilary Lange, World Owl Trust
on 01229 717393.