Conservationists are celebrating the birth of a “bounty of barn owl chicks” in Northern Ireland.
Two barn owl pairs were discovered to have bred successfully on farm visits in Co Fermanagh this summer by Ulster Wildlife, each raising five chicks.
The charity described a brood of five chicks as being above the average for barn owls, indicating a good breeding year for the farmland species.
It added that five chicks have already fledged from one site, while the other brood are just a few weeks behind.
It comes after work carried out by Ulster Wildlife with landowners to install nest boxes and help create the right conditions for barn owls to thrive.
