A typical night at the owl box

The youngest owlet comes out of the owl box to sit on the ledge soon after sundown, shortly joined by her two sisters who are roosting somewhere nearby.

They spend most of the night hissing and squabbling with a little practice flying but they’re not hunting for themselves yet so the parents respond to their calls and bring them food to keep them going. Just before dawn the older ones go back to their roosts, leaving the youngest on her own, at least until the next night.

They are getting quite noisy and we can often hear them from the other side of the field, at least five hundred feet away. They do need to start hunting for themselves as the parents won’t keep up the feeding: won’t be long though.

Here’s the youngest owlet settling down for a day’s rest after the night before. The field mouse on the floor is a clear sign she’s being fed well. The adults will have to stop doing this otherwise she won’t learn herself.