Month: June 2022

The two older owlets are spending the nights learning how to leap from branch to branch. They don’t always get on though, as you can see! The youngest isn’t coming out of the nest box yet, but it won’t be long before all three of them are out learning to fly.

The adult female is still coming back to feed them but will likely reduce her visits in order to encourage the youngsters to learn how to fend for themselves.

We had a great day yesterday with John Lightfoot visiting to check the three owlets out. All are doing well, good weights, and as beautiful/ugly as is to be expected! All boys this year (the three last year were all girls). Another week and they may start to learn to fly.

First views of the world! 49 days old and the oldest owlet has ventured out onto the entrance to the nest box to view the wide world outside for the first time. A grainy video in the twilight but the typical wobble-head of the young owl, half fluff and half feathers, is clear to see.

The growing owlets have forced the adults to move out as there is little room left in the nest box. The male appears to have gone completely but the female is now roosting in the old nest box nearby and appears in the late evening to hunt for the hungry three fur balls who are now gaining their true feathers. In only a week’s time the first will venture out of the nest box and start learning to fly!

This week we had the pleasure of the company of James Wilkes, a talented wildlife photographer who very patiently waited (I think we sat in our hides for over four hours!) for the female adult to appear, and just before it got too dark she flew over and posed for us on a post nearby.

Both adults are spending a lot more time hunting. They’re out in the afternoon now as well as evening and night and are bringing back a lot of prey for the owlets. Sometimes one of them will return within five minutes of leaving, with another unfortunate field vole.