aeshna5; Bub-les; Richard (richew); denn; Vince S; John; GME and Nicola - thank you all for your interest and for your kind words of encouragement. I just hope the birds turn up and enable me to live up to your expectations
Doug (Black Rabbit) - thank you also, and yes two of the nestboxes are
very exposed - we're right on the edge of the fens here and it can get a wee bit breezy! It was also bitterly cold on the day I took the photos.
bleeper - as Dave (pressld2) has already confirmed, you certainly do need a Schedule 1 licence from Natural England to photograph Barn Owls 'at or near' the nest. If the one currently frequenting your relative's land does indeed pair up with another, then you will have to be very careful about photographing them if you are to avoid breaching the legislation. My advice would have to be that if you see a pair of them together on the land within the next month or two and in the absence of a licence, you should keep well away from the area for fear of disturbing them during the critical courtship phase and possibly also committing a criminal offence
Stephen P - thank you also and yes, please feel free to pm me about Licences, etc.
and finally
Dave (pressld2) - thank you for your kind remarks. As to your question - essentially just how near is 'near' within the terms of the legislation? I've done a considerable amount of research on the point and could probably write quite a lengthy legal paper on the subject. However, as it's not my field of legal expertise my comments
must not be regarded as legal advice.
As the term 'near' is not defined in the actual legislation then, under the normal rules on interpreting the law, the standard dictionary definition of the word applies. However, as 'near' is a relative term this doesn't really help much. For instance, I often say that I live 'near' Cambridge when in fact I live some 10 miles away. On the other hand, if one tells a small child not to go 'near' a dog that might mean staying just a few feet away
There have been relatively few prosecutions for disturbance offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and apparently none of the cases brought before the courts have involved situations in which the issue of whether or not the defendant was 'near' was in dispute - it was sufficiently clear cut to be beyond doubt. Consequently, there is no judicial guidance on the point.
This being so, the question remains open to interpretation in any particular case or situation, though obviously if a case goes to court it will be the court's decision that counts!
I have discussed the matter informally with a member of the RSPB's Investigations Dept and they take the view (rightly in my opinion) that one cannot lay down any set distance, as the potential range in which disturbance of a nesting bird may occur will vary widely depending on such factors as the habitat in which the nest is situated, the species concerned and even the individual characteristics of particular birds within the species.
So far as I have been able to establish the only guidance expressed in specific distances was issued by the Forestry Commission Scotland in their Guidance Note no. 32 of November 2006 - "Forest operations and birds in Scottish forests". This was issued to enable forestry workers to plan and carry out forestry operations in areas in which Schedule 1 species were known to nest or where nests were discovered during the course of operations. In the case of Barn Owls the minimum "safe working distance" to avoid disturbance was put at only 100 -250 metres, but it must be remembered that this applies to a forested area and, in any case, carries no legal weight.
The minimum distance in an open area with perhaps just a few trees and/or field hedges would obviously be much greater and although in your example you say 'two or three fields away' much would depend on the size of the fields
and the general habitat of the area.
In summary, it is impossible to give a simple answer to your question and must come down to common sense and what a reasonable person might do. However, I think that in theory and in the case of Barn Owls nesting in fairly open country it is quite possible that one could be found guilty of a disturbance offence if one's actions disturb a bird hunting even as far as several hundred metres away from the actual nestbox.
I know that's not terribly helpful Dave but I'm afraid it's the best I can come up with and I would certainly recommend that without a Licence you should keep well away from any occupied nestboxes and, of course, should also try to avoid disturbing any hunting Barn Owls whilst attempting to photograph them during the breeding season.
Jeff