Six eggs give hope for Barn Owl recovery project

These could be the most precious eggs this easter - even if they are a few days late.

Hidden away in a nest in the Yorkshire countryside six eggs are waiting to hatch - and the reason they're so vital is that they are barn owls - one of the region's most threatened birds of prey.

Numbers are at an all time low, but these new birds are being monitored by video link by one of Yorkshire's top wildlife artists who's determined that they'll help to save our endangered barn owl population.

Jon Hill reports:

Harsher winters in recent years wiped out up to eighty per cent of Yorkshire's barn owls, according to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

A new batch of eggs could provide a significant boost to the recovery effort:

Six eggs recently laid could spur the recovery of barn owls in Yorkshire.

Wildlife artist Robert Fuller set up cameras to monitor owls near Thixendale and believes a double brood from one owl could be a significant boost to the breed in North Yorkshire:

A clutch of six eggs has been laid by a pair of barn owls in North Yorkshire.

They are now being carefully monitored via video link by a barn owl conservationist in Thixendale.

According to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust these birds of prey could disappear from the county altogether if the current rate of decline continues.

The first egg is not expected to hatch until May Day. But populations of barn owls across North Yorkshire are so low that each potential new bird is vital to their recovery.