Tipton's Croft

The youngest owlet is catching up with her older sisters and is usually the first up in early evening and last back in the nest box in the morning.

She stays in the nest box with her sister during the day and they’re joined by the oldest owlet (who is roosting in a tree nearby as there isn’t much room in the nest box) in the evening for a night of practice flying and hunting, with the adults still bringing the younger owlets food during the night to keep them going until they can hunt fully for themselves.

It’s quite noisy out there now, but we think it’s a lovely sound.

Sorry about the thumping background noise: it’s a continuing problem with the Green Feathers camera.

At last the youngest owlet has ventured outside to join her two older siblings on the nest box ledge. She’s got some catching up to do though as the others have already made their first attempts at flying.

The oldest owlet is almost ready to start flying: it is now hopping up and down Before any aviator learns to fly they have to learn to taxi! From dusk to dawn the two older owlets are practising leaping around the nest box and nearby branches as they strengthen their wings and balance.

The youngest owlet isn’t big (or bold) enough to join them yet but it won’t be long before all three are outside together. The adults are still coming back to feed them but will soon start to reduce the amount to get the youngsters hungry and encourage them to start to hunt for themselves.

Our new trailcam shows a series of clips from last night showing what the owlets are getting up to.

Here’s the clip of one of the adults bringing back food for the owlets. are getting up to.

The oldest owlet is almost ready to start flying: it is now hopping up and down between the nest box ledge and the camera boom above it, encouraged by the second owlet. The youngest is still in the nest box, not quite ready to come out into the open air and join in the fun.

In a day or two the oldest will risk all and leap into thin air from the ledge for the first time and start flying.

Two of the owlets practice the amazing range of head movements that barn owls have.

The other owlet really can’t be bothered!

A big thank you to John and Wendy from the Shropshire Barn Owl Group, for coming round to check on our owlets. All three are fit and healthy with good weights and this time all three are female. They were quite well-behaved: soporific due to the heat and it being the equivalent of the middle of night for them.

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Freedom Day and the oldest owlet ventures out onto the nest box ledge for the very first time. 50 days old and still covered with fluff, it surveys the strange thing that is the world outside.

Another quite day for the three owlets but they are beginning to get a bit restless: here’s one practising its neck exercises in front of the camera.

Sorry about the thumping noise – it’s a fault with the camera

Day 42 and the owlets are developing the typical barn owl heart-shaped face and they start to lose their fluff to reveal their new feathers.

Another week and we hope to have a visit from the Shropshire Barn Owl Group to check and ring the owlets: a great chance to see the three wobble-heads close up!

Now the three owlets are old enough (the oldest is 31 days old) the mother is roosting elsewhere during the day. We were able to turn on a third camera without disturbing them and this one gives a better view of the inside of the nest box.

So enjoy five minutes of the three fluffballs doing what they do during the day.

A perfect night for hunting and both the male and female took full advantage, delivering a total of fifteen juicy field voles and mice for the growing (and as you can hear, demanding) owlets.

Female 8, male 7!

The adults is hunting earlier and earlier as the owlets getting bigger and hungrier. Here the female dashes back in with dinner, so quick you can hardly see the field vole she has caught.

The oldest hatched 25 days ago and the youngest a week later.

After a few days of poor hunting this morning there is evidence of abundance, with a spare field mouse on the floor, so the owlets have obviously fed well during the night. The fluffballs are getting bigger and there are signs of their first true feathers coming through.

The oldest hatched 25 days ago and the youngest a week later.

The mother brings back a field vole for the hungry owlets and within the blink of an eye it’s gone. Question: who won the prize?! You may have to watch the video more than once to spot it.

Answer: it’s the largest owlet who grabs it and rushes to the corner of the nest box to swallow it whole, and it’s vanished even before the mother leaves the nest.

Yesterday evening the male barn owl came out early to start hunting, silently to and fro across the field, passing within feet of us as we sat holding our breath at the edge of the field. Soon afterwards the female flew out from the nest box and for a few moments the pair appeared to serenade each other as they flew out over the long grass, before each headed off into the distance: different directions, same intention.

The hunting appeared to go well during the night, but today the smallest owlet died, probably from being trampled by its bigger bolder siblings rather than hunger.

The three older owlets appear well, but the drizzle tonight has delayed dinner.

The rain stopped hunting early last night. The female came back empty mouthed and soaking wet, to be greeted by a noisy bundle of hungry owlets, who clamoured loudly for food that wasn’t there. The largest of the group became rather aggressive until even it got the message and they all calmed down.

The hunting needs to be better tonight, particularly as the youngest is still very small and vulnerable. Fortunately the weather forecast is good: dry, clear and calm.

Now the owlets have their warm fur coats and the weather is good the mother can go out at night hunting for them.

Here she brings back a small mouse, to a lot of fuss from the hungry youngsters. It is the second oldest who gets the prize and duly downs it in one (with a bit of a struggle).

Note the large dead vole on the floor, a little too big for the owlets to eat themselves.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to baby barn owls after they die in the nest box then here’s the answer. It is rather gross, but it’s real nature doing what nature does, and not letting anything go to waste.

Red in tooth and claw