A wild field garden in Bomere Heath, Shropshire, England
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After a few weeks of no cameras in the nest box (thanks to something nibbling the cables up in the tree) we have fixed the technical issues and now have a good view of the inside of the nest box, where the new barn owl is settling in for the winter. She (see the black dots on her front) isn’t ringed and doesn’t look like our previous owls, so is likely new to the area.
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The black blob on the bottom of the nest box is a fresh barn owl pellet and the first sign that an owl is around and might be interested in settling in.
A search back through the nest box camera’s saved clips reveals all. The barn owl has been visiting for a couple of days and even rested all day on Friday. We don’t know if it’s male or female, or if it is one of the adults from this year (it is unlikely to be any of the fledglings). We can’t see if it is ringed yet either. Will let you know more when we do.
Almost exactly to the day a barn owl starts to visit the nest box. It was 1 October when we first spotted one last year https://tiptonscroft.org.uk/blog/new-tenant/.
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The youngest owlet has finally dispersed and the nest box is now empty. It’s been a successful year and there are now three new barn owls somewhere out there in the Shropshire countryside. This brings our total owls bred to 11 since we started in 2018.
The nest box shouldn’t be empty for long, but hopefully we have enough time to clean it out and make any repairs needed before another (or possibly the same) couple of barn owls settle in.
Three great tits take an interest in the empty nest box.
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The owlets have spent the past few days gaining their independence and the older two have now left the nest box and dispersed, to who knows where, as they do at this age. The youngest is still here and still being fed by the adult female, but it won’t be long before he too will fly off into the distance.
The owlets at twelve weeks old
A dozen shy young mallards (mostly female) have just arrived by the pond. I might get a better shot if they’re still here tomorrow, but I don’t want to disturb them.
The next morning and they’re still here, doing what ducks do: eating the pond plants and messing up the water!
Update 20 July. The mallards have gone, back to their pond next door where they had escaped from!
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All three owlets are now learning to fly. The oldest is 9 weeks old and as a result the most competent, but as you can see, all three need a little more training. The adult female is still visiting at night to provide food but she will be coming back less often as she lets the youngsters fend for themselves.
Update 7 July. The owlets are well on their way to being independent. Their flying skills have improved and they’re now learing to hunt on their own too. It won’t be long before they will disperse and each settle up somewhere else. It will be a shame to see them go but that’s what they do.
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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.
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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.
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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.