Now, let's take you to Northern Ireland and a hopeful story about conservation, specifically barn Owls. A farmer in County Down is celebrating the arrival of four new chicks after 10 years of conservation work on his land to boost numbers. It's the sixth year in a row that owls have used David Sanford's farm to breed. Julie McCulloch went to find out what the secret to his success is.
David Sanford takes me to see one of the nine nest boxes he's had installed at his Strangford farm over the last decade. With cameras inside some of them, he's been able to monitor the owl's progress. But as what he's doing along the edges of his fields, these rough grass margins, that has helped provide the food they need.
The barn owls are catching lots of mice, which is feeding their young and feeding themselves. So I suppose that's the main thing that you can say has worked, really.
David has been helped get to this point by local conservation charities.
We've had nearly 20 chicks come from this farm. That is just amazing. And we've known that chicks have come out of here and settled nearby. We've known that chicks have been hanging out here over the winter. So For such a small population to get almost 20 chicks come from one farm is just such a celebration.
These outlets were filmed on the farm last summer, but there was good news this year, too.
This box on David's farm is the The only one that currently has any owls in it, but there are, in fact, four chicks inside. Now, we're not going to go any closer. We're trying not to make too much noise because they are a protected species, and we don't want to spook them.
Anyone who thinks they may have land suitable for breeding barn owls can get more information from Ulster Wildlife.
Wonderful pictures. Julie McCulloch with that report. Do stay with us here on BBC News.
A farmer in Northern Ireland is celebrating the arrival of four new barn owl chicks after 10 years of conservation work on his land to ...