Roger Graham, Friends of Meadowridge Common chairperson

At the AGM of the Friends of Meadowridge Common in March, Mike Amira, the Owl Box Man, addressed the meeting on the subject of the Spotted Eagle Owl and how owl boxes may be beneficial for these species.

Mr Amira had been invited to speak due to a recent sighting of owls with their owlets alongside busy Meadowridge roads, on verges, at playschools and in residents premises. Residents have expressed concern about their survival and the potential dangers cars, dogs and similar threats pose to their survival.

Though there is no guarantee an owl box would ensure their safety, it may serve as a better base from which they can teach the owlets how to hunt. This coaching takes place on the Common's ground and dog-walkers have recently been shocked out of their socks by a sudden, silent swoop as they (or more accurately their dogs) are dive-bombed. The owls only hope to scare dogs away from where their young might be and have not done dogs any harm, other than given them a big fright.

For many decades the Common has been a nesting area for Spotted Eagle Owls. The owls mate for life, laying two to three eggs a time and both raising their owlets for the first two months of their lives, during which they are taught to hunt.

An owl box, a type of hut positioned at a suitable height within a tree, might offer the owls a safe house and prevent them getting close to roads and other dangerous areas.

Mr Amira also highlighted how, in urban areas, owl numbers have increased. Suburbs have densified and brought increasing waste, especially around malls, restaurants and other food outlets, this attracts rodents which feed off the waste. Shop owners, trying to get rid of them, use poisons which may kill this vermin but owls, attracted by an easy prey may consume them, leading to the death of the owl.

Original residents of Meadowridge recall them nesting in window boxes on the windows of the original Meadowridge Shopping Centre, its first "mall", situated just behind Park n Shop. More often they have nested in pine trees on the Common and have raised their young there.

The Friends would like to see them remain in this safe place and are delighted that Mr Amira, the Owl Box Man, has offered to build and donate an owl box to the Meadowridge Common and help safeguard this remarkable bird.