Blog | Hooky in Harmony

Otters - Coming to a river near you!

A great Talk from Stephen Powles! On Friday 17th April, we had a lovely Talk on Otters given by Stephen Powles. Formerly a Vet, Stephen changed career to pursue a lifelong passion for wildlife, wildlife photography, filming and conservation. He gave us an insight into the secretive lives of otters, illustrated with wonderful photos that he had taken over the years. Stephen introduced us to “Hammer Scar”, a female that lived on the stream below his home in Tiverton. He obser

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Barnie Has a Box!

The first of 4 Barn Owl nest boxes being put up! Following our 2025 fund-raising, we have purchased 4 Barn Owl nest boxes. Local land-owners and farmers have given permission for them to be put up on their land, so now we wait to see if our local Barn Owls like them! Our grateful thanks go to Adrian State from Oxfordshire's Owl Project for making the boxes and siting them for us. Adrian is licenced to check nest boxes in the breeding season, so he will be monitoring them and

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The Toad Patrol results are in!

The Common Toad - a wonderfully charming amphibian with ‘warty’ skin and waddling gait- is thought to be experiencing declines in the UK, in some cases caused by the effect of road traffic as toads travel slowly back to breeding ponds, often used for generations. We asked for volunteers to help man a Toad crossing in Todenham for occasional evenings between February and the end of March. As "Toads on Roads" volunteers, we were part of a national campaign co-ordinated by the

hookyinharmony

Otters - Coming to a river near you!

A great Talk from Stephen Powles! On Friday 17th April, we had a lovely Talk on Otters given by Stephen Powles. Formerly a Vet, Stephen changed career to pursue a lifelong passion for wildlife, wildlife photography, filming and conservation. He gave us an insight into the secretive lives of otters, illustrated with wonderful photos that he had taken over the years. Stephen introduced us to “Hammer Scar”, a female that lived on the stream below his home in Tiverton. He obser

hookyinharmony

Barnie Has a Box!

The first of 4 Barn Owl nest boxes being put up! Following our 2025 fund-raising, we have purchased 4 Barn Owl nest boxes. Local land-owners and farmers have given permission for them to be put up on their land, so now we wait to see if our local Barn Owls like them! Our grateful thanks go to Adrian State from Oxfordshire's Owl Project for making the boxes and siting them for us. Adrian is licenced to check nest boxes in the breeding season, so he will be monitoring them and

hookyinharmony

The Toad Patrol results are in!

The Common Toad - a wonderfully charming amphibian with ‘warty’ skin and waddling gait- is thought to be experiencing declines in the UK, in some cases caused by the effect of road traffic as toads travel slowly back to breeding ponds, often used for generations. We asked for volunteers to help man a Toad crossing in Todenham for occasional evenings between February and the end of March. As "Toads on Roads" volunteers, we were part of a national campaign co-ordinated by the

hookyinharmony

Otters - Coming to a river near you!

A great Talk from Stephen Powles! On Friday 17th April, we had a lovely Talk on Otters given by Stephen Powles. Formerly a Vet, Stephen changed career to pursue a lifelong passion for wildlife, wildlife photography, filming and conservation. He gave us an insight into the secretive lives of otters, illustrated with wonderful photos that he had taken over the years. Stephen introduced us to “Hammer Scar”, a female that lived on the stream below his home in Tiverton. He obser

hookyinharmony

Barnie Has a Box!

The first of 4 Barn Owl nest boxes being put up! Following our 2025 fund-raising, we have purchased 4 Barn Owl nest boxes. Local land-owners and farmers have given permission for them to be put up on their land, so now we wait to see if our local Barn Owls like them! Our grateful thanks go to Adrian State from Oxfordshire's Owl Project for making the boxes and siting them for us. Adrian is licenced to check nest boxes in the breeding season, so he will be monitoring them and

hookyinharmony

The Toad Patrol results are in!

The Common Toad - a wonderfully charming amphibian with ‘warty’ skin and waddling gait- is thought to be experiencing declines in the UK, in some cases caused by the effect of road traffic as toads travel slowly back to breeding ponds, often used for generations. We asked for volunteers to help man a Toad crossing in Todenham for occasional evenings between February and the end of March. As "Toads on Roads" volunteers, we were part of a national campaign co-ordinated by the

hookyinharmony

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Otters - Coming to a river near you!

A great Talk from Stephen Powles! On Friday 17th April, we had a lovely Talk on Otters given by Stephen Powles. Formerly a Vet, Stephen changed career to pursue a lifelong passion for wildlife, wildlife photography, filming and conservation. He gave us an insight into the secretive lives of otters, illustrated with wonderful photos that he had taken over the years. Stephen introduced us to “Hammer Scar”, a female that lived on the stream below his home in Tiverton. He obser

hookyinharmony

2 days ago1 min read

Barnie Has a Box!

The first of 4 Barn Owl nest boxes being put up! Following our 2025 fund-raising, we have purchased 4 Barn Owl nest boxes. Local land-owners and farmers have given permission for them to be put up on their land, so now we wait to see if our local Barn Owls like them! Our grateful thanks go to Adrian State from Oxfordshire's Owl Project for making the boxes and siting them for us. Adrian is licenced to check nest boxes in the breeding season, so he will be monitoring them and

hookyinharmony

2 days ago1 min read

The Toad Patrol results are in!

The Common Toad - a wonderfully charming amphibian with ‘warty’ skin and waddling gait- is thought to be experiencing declines in the UK, in some cases caused by the effect of road traffic as toads travel slowly back to breeding ponds, often used for generations. We asked for volunteers to help man a Toad crossing in Todenham for occasional evenings between February and the end of March. As "Toads on Roads" volunteers, we were part of a national campaign co-ordinated by the

hookyinharmony

Apr 262 min read

Barnie needs a Box

Over recent decades, availability of suitable Barn Owl nesting cavities has reduced, primarily due to loss of large trees with hollows, modernisation and enclosure of farm buildings and loss of habitat due to housing developments. Providing nest boxes within or near to suitable habitat can help to increase breeding success and support local Barn Owl populations. With this in mind, in 2025 we fund-raised to purchase some Barn Owl nest boxes to put up in the countryside surrou

hookyinharmony

Apr 261 min read

A year with Bumblebees!

A year with Bumblebees My love of Bumblebees started when I was 4! I distinctly remember a beautiful purple flower in my parents’ garden absolutely covered with beautiful bees. I also remember them not being entirely happy being put into a jam jar by an enthusiastic 4 year old girl and shaken! I discovered to my cost that they do sting! It takes a lot and probably a lot of irritation. Over the years I have lived in various parts of the UK and have always been fascinated by t

hookyinharmony

Feb 153 min read

More Swift nest-boxes in Hooky!

Photo credit: Abby Eaton & Swift Conservation In November 2025 we held a social media campaign to raise awareness of the need for more Swift nest-boxes in Hook Norton, and I am pleased to report that 17 households volunteered to have a nest box fitted onto their house. Chris Mason from Cherwell Swifts and Catherine from Hooky in Harmony visited each house to check it was suitable. It is important that the box can be situated a good height from the ground, otherwise when the c

hookyinharmony

Jan 111 min read

Fund-raising at Chastleton Church

November volunteers for Chastleton Church Teas The National Trust's Chastleton House Church allows charities and community groups to host afternoon teas in the church to raise funds. We were very lucky in 2025 to have an afternoon in August and also in November to serve teas, proceeds from which have gone towards the group's running costs and also to our Barnie Needs a Box campaign - raising money to purchase Barn Owl nest boxes to be put up in the countryside surrounding Hoo

hookyinharmony

Jan 111 min read

A Prickly Affair - Hedgehog Talk with Hugh Warwick

On Friday the 24th of October, we held a sold out Hedgehog Talk with Hugh Warwick, the Hedgehog-loving ecologist and author. Hugh's book, "A Prickly Affair," received accolades from both Jeanette Winterson and Ann Widdecombe. His next book, "Hedgehog," was published in April 2014, followed by a third, "The Hedgehog Book" in 2020. Fay Vas, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society CEO said of the latter: "I would really recommend this unique book to anyone with an interest i

hookyinharmony

Jan 111 min read

View with a Brew

A lovely morning For our View With A Brew Walk in May, we started in the village and walked the Cradle Farm Loop. We saw some wonderful...

hookyinharmony

May 31, 20251 min read

Bird Walk with Adrian State

17 villagers enjoyed the Bird Walk on the 12th April. Our guide for the morning was Adrian State, a well-known bird lover with a wealth...

hookyinharmony

May 31, 20251 min read

An evening of Owls!

Our Owl Talk on Friday 18th October was a great evening. Chrissie from Chrissie's Owls explained how her group are committed to the...

hookyinharmony

Nov 5, 20241 min read

The Big Butterfly Count

On Sunday 28th July, 6 volunteers walked part of the d'Arcy Dalton Way to record butterflies for The Big Butterfly Count. The Big...

hookyinharmony

Sep 21, 20242 min read

Hook Norton Swift Walk

Our Swift Walk on Saturday 15th June in Hook Norton was a very informative evening. Despite concerns that the earlier rain might make the...

hookyinharmony

Jul 6, 20241 min read

Community Nestbox Building Event kindly supported by Travis Perkins

National Nestbox Week is an established part of the ornithological calendar. Celebrated from February 14th each year, it puts the spotlight on breeding birds and asks everyone to put up more nestboxes in their local area to support National Nestbox week, Hooky in Harmony gave local bird lovers the opportunity to assemble a free of charge nestbox for their garden. On the 17th of February, 26 villagers came to The Baptist Hall to build a nestbox and we are delighted to report t

hookyinharmony

May 17, 20241 min read