Winter owls.

 2025 will be my fourteenth year of feeding the owls on our farm. I still vividly remember that first winter when I walked down in all weathers, when snow covered the bales and danced in my torchlight and when more than one storm buffeted the yard from all directions and sent me tumbling home to the warmth of the wood burner.

My project may not have got to its fourteenth year had I not decided to stay back one evening the following spring to realise that, once they thought I had left, owls appeared from all directions to take the food I'd given them. It was a breathtaking discovery to find that they were so close by and so quick to fly in. 

I adore walking down each evening but each season gifts me something a little different and despite it being the coldest and most inhospitable time to walk, late winter is often the most rewarding. The harsh conditions mean that the owls are keenest. They wait in the trees for me. If I am late they fly down the road towards me and my whistling call sends them spiraling upwards from the farm buildings. The youngsters from the autumn brood have been allowed to stay in situ through the worst of the weather and I have fun picking out which ones are the youngsters and which are our established adults.Our oldest female waits upon the shed roof and is always first to fly in. I'm not sure if she is bravest and showing the others it is safe to take the food or whether there is some sort of pecking order that means she gets first choice of the offerings. The situation here is so unusual it is difficult to tell which scenario is most likely.

The youngsters wait further away in the trees to the east and the west. I make sure there will be enough food for these inexperienced birds as they arguably need it the most. I feel a tenderness towards these beauties as they fly back and forth, willing me to leave so they too can take their share of the food. They do not know that within weeks they will be ousted and looking for territories of their own. When this happens, on every trip across the fens, I will be keenly watching for them. When I see Barn Owls ghosting the ditches and road sides, I will be wondering if each one was one of the beauties I've been lucky enough to watch all winter.

Sometimes they are keener than others.They'll be hungrier after wind and rain but over the years I have come to recognise that they fly in the bravest when rain is building. This week four birds flew in within touching distance, taking the food before I had chance to step away. It is breathtaking and humbling and awe-inspiring to be in the company of owls such as these.

I have no idea what 2025 will bring. Will the weather be kind to the owls? Will our adults avoid the numerous hazards and stay safe? Will their be plenty of prey to sustain their broods and how many owlets will we rear? One thing is sure, I will show up for these birds each evening and help them when I can. Thank you for being part of my journey too.

Hanging on.

 Its a while since I last blogged but when I did, I queried whether the autumn owlets would hang around this winter having fledged so early. I am pleased to report that they have. The adults have tolerated these young adults which is a great help to the youngsters who can stay on familiar territory and help themselves to food during the harshest of weathers. 

It is still possible to see the two distinct broods across the farm. The beehive family are roosting in the combine shed with our original parent birds. They fly over to the house or wait in the open sheds to the east of the feeding platforms. I see them through the shed lights or pick them up in my torch beam waiting in the trees in the field. They take food from the shed roof and fly back in the direction of the natal nest site to eat their cache. The experienced female usually flies in first and I know the youngsters are hers as they sometimes chase after her for the food she has taken even though there is plenty left for them. These birds are exceptionally brave and wait close to me but when I try to take some, my photos are disappointing because the roof is simply too high to get a good shot of them. I remember in 2018 when I fed them close to the house and I would have to flail the torch around wildly to keep them at bay as I ran to get positioned with my camera. Those were some of my best action shots but now I am content to know they are fed and have shelter.

The west nest box owlets still favour the straw and the nest boxes secured under the dutch barn eaves. I see these owls high in the rooftops especially on windy evenings. They also wait in the trees to the west that are adjacent to the box they were reared in. They dive and swoop close to the straw but also join the other owls and take food from the shed roof without any animosity. I've also watched one bird that checks out a feeding station at the far end of the dutch barn that I haven't used in years. I am unsure whether it simply recognises it as similar to the others or whether it remembers food being left there. This was the original platform from 2012 and I would love to know if this bird actually fed from it. If so it is a good few years old and another owl to rival our original female in longevity.

We have had a substantial amount of hay moved over the past couple of weeks. I know the owls are roosting between the  warm bales because there are holes that have been smoothed around the edges and are a perfect owl shape and size. I had been watching an especially low bolthole and felt sure it was used by the little owls, but when the bales were moved I was surprised to find barn owl feathers and pellets left behind. Max thinks this is all terrific and wastes no time eating any pellets he gets to before me!!

Early one morning this week, a customer came for a number of bales and a very light male flew from its hay roost and over the field to a nearby ash tree. It wasn't happy and fairly swiftly flew back to the nest box but there was too much noise and it lost its nerve. It headed back to the tree accompanied by daddy kestrel who was still waiting to fly in for breakfast and was none too pleased to see an owl out. More worryingly, we now have a buzzard waiting in the trees each morning. I'm not sure if it is hoping for food but I would rather not have one of my naive young barn owls out at the same time. I left the yard with my nerves on edge but was followed soon after by the machinery leaving the farm. The yard was quiet once more and the owl could find another cosy nook until dusk fell once more.

In the past few weeks the owls have contended with their first storm in the form of Storm Bert and they have experienced snow and more frosty nights than we had last winter entirely. We've had rainy nights in succession which is never welcome but also some mild and still conditions in which they can learn to hunt for themselves. Twice I have driven along the top bank and seen an owl hunting the grass verges. I was also lucky enough to get an afternoon viewing of  a very light male bird a couple of miles from ours. These birds could easily be some of our youngsters. They could also be potential mates for ours as they begin to disperse later in the winter. I have however, a few weeks more to enjoy watching these special birds and I mean to enjoy it to the full.

Finding their wings.

 Its nearly two months now since our second broods fledged and I am interested to see how long they'll stay at the farm. First brood fledglings leave after just a few, short weeks, but our second brood families stay for most of the winter. This occurs however, when they fledge in October. Fledging in August means they could well behave like the summer owlets instead and disperse earlier to find their own roosts across the fens.

I have witnessed some truly fabulous fly pasts this autumn. As the sun melts below the horizon and lights the skies with orange hues, the farm yard comes alive. Owls appear from tree roosts, pop out of nest boxes or fly out from the shed eaves.  The combine shed has become a favourite roost for more than one of them and they fly to my bidding from the doors.The farmhouse itself proved to be a great place to watch and wait for me recently, and I saw owls perched on the chimneys and television aerial.  They have quickly learned not to utter their half formed screech upon my arrival but still cannot help themselves hiss for food  as I whistle and wave the torch around.

With two broods across the farm there are plenty of owls to watch. Last week I counted five youngsters around west nest box but as the beehive box youngsters were out I cannot discount that they too had joined the melee over at the dutch barn and so I cannot say how many there were in each brood. Nonetheless we can celebrate the fact that both broods were healthy and fledged successfully. 

A few evenings ago I waited behind to see what happened after the owls presumed I had gone. I stood by the grain store with good views of both feeding stations and watched. Straight away an owlet appeared from the shed and waited on the top of the door. I stood motionless knowing that if the owl saw me it would alert the others and my owl watching for the evening would be finished. It sat for what seemed like an age as I kept as still as I could, so still that I was barely breathing. As we both surveyed the darkened farm yard another owl swooped low between us heading over to the open sheds by the house. This seemed to cue the first owl into action and it flew to the feeding platform and helped itself to tea. It headed east which told me it was one of the beehive owlets and I felt satisfied to see it fly so confidently. Within seconds another one appeared on the dutch barn feeding station. This one was not so sure. It took a chick and promptly landed on the floor with it before scanning the area and clumsily flying back into the straw.  As owls flew in for food from both sides of the farm I crept back home, satisfied that the owlets were, at least for now, still on site and still safe.

Each day, I find other clues to the owls whereabouts. There are splashy droppings all along the south facing side of the dutch barn and it is obvious that owls are waiting here, perhaps hunting from a safe vantage point or still begging for food. As I walk across the fields I see more droppings under the elder branches that border the farm to the east. There are obviously owls hunting from here too and I am reassured that they are growing in independence.

I was initially concerned when I saw feathers around the straw as I walk down each morning. The weather has turned now and we have had some seriously rainy nights. I worried that a cunning fox had found the owls and was slowly picking them off one by one. I imagined it appreciated this ready made larder of plump baby owls sitting pretty, an easy target. However, as time goes by I realise that the feathers are actually moult feathers from the adult birds. Female owls will moult whilst sitting on eggs. Some of the feathers I am seeing may even be from the nest box above. The males will moult after they have finished feeding young and their busiest times are over. Seeing these feathers tells me that the owls are finished with rearing young for 2024. 

I love watching the adults and working out where they are nesting, hearing the youngsters hissing for food and watching them emerge from the nest boxes and I am satisfied with another successful year.  Our owls have done well in a year that has has given us some inclement weather. As I write this and the rain hammers down relentlessly on the window I wish our owlets a safe and prosperous future as with their new found independence they find their wings.

Exceptional

 2024 has been an exceptional year so far and continues to amaze me.Our Barn Owls produced their first eggs in February and their first broods fledged at the end of May. They then began rearing second broods, confident that food was being delivered each evening and that they could rear their young successfully.

Every evening I watch our resident female. She waits patiently for me watching intently. There is something about her manner, about her attentiveness that tells me it is her and it warms my heart to see her each evening. She and her mate are now roosting in the combine shed and leave the door each evening as I approach. This tells me that their young are a good size as there is no longer room for the parents in the nest box. They alight on the sheds and watch as I leave the food before flying in and heading straight over to the beehives where their hungry brood are. They fly so close that I throw the food onto the shed and wait for a dull thud that tells me they have taken food, however this week I threw the food as an owl flew in nearly hitting it with its tea! Our carefully choreographed routine has since continued each evening since so I think they have forgiven me. 

Our second pair have given me more to worry about. Here we have another exceptional female. Our first female from our original pair joined us in 2012. The female from pair two was a youngster last year but she has made her presence felt across the farm. She has been feisty and quite dominant, flying in first for food and showing well both by day and by night. Because of her darker colouring, she has been easy to pick out among the other owls. I last saw her mid August when she flew back to the farm from a hunting foray. Since then she seems to have vanished. My first concern was for her young family and I watched the nest box from a distance to see the male taking food in. Night after night I saw just the three adults and although I watched and waited she never showed. 

The obvious answer is that she has died. She was brave and young, hunting far and wide. She could have been hit by a car, taken in pesticide, become trapped somewhere, the possibilities are many, yet while there is no body I will continue to wait for her. Female Barn Owls usually moult whilst sitting on eggs and ours usually moult while sitting on second broods. Perhaps with broods happening so early she is noticeably absent because she is moulting now instead but I think I am clutching at straws with this theory. Each night as I walk down I scour the skies for her but to no avail.

In her absence I watch her brood, checking that they are still being fed and listening to them hissing as I approach. My best vantage point is from behind the grain store a good way back from the dutch barn. From here I can see when the male bird approaches and can hear them excitedly greeting him. It is on the 25th August that I realise that the owlets are almost ready to fledge. As I watch from the shed, I see an owl looking round the side of the nest box.It is trying to make out what or who I am and is bobbing its head from side to side to try to focus upon me. This is classic owlet posturing but being out on the front porch means it must be six or seven weeks old. Once it tires of watching me it proceeds to stretch its beautiful, fully formed wings out and begins wing flapping, strengthening its wing muscles and practising ready to fly. 

It is nearly a week later on the 31st August that I realise this brood have indeed fledged. Although a couple wait on the nest box front I watch two others fly a little way and land in the field. This is typical owlet behaviour and I hold my breath until I see them return to the straw and crash land close to the nest box. This is a full two months earlier than our owlets usually fledge from second broods and part of their success is down to the bravery and confidence of their mother. As I think of her and her determination, I suddenly have a thought. What if she has disappeared because she is actually sitting on eggs? She left her first brood of owlets remarkably early and the dates on this brood tell me she disappeared when they were within two weeks of fledging. She was confident of a food source for them and we have plenty of nest boxes for her to use. If this is case it will be a first for us to have three broods from one pair in a year. I can only watch, wait and see.

And then there were four.

 The kestrels are my little bit of midsummer magic. They usually fledge just after the barn owls and this year was no exception, especially considering the owls were so early. Just as with the owls, I learn to tell the signs of their imminent fledging as year upon year I watch them on a daily basis.

Daddy kestrel is always pleased to see me. In poor weather he will wait outside my house and fly down with me, evidently delighted to see me, or most likely the chicks that I have for him. He has also learned to fly at night and is often the first one to fly in when I feed the owls. As his hungry family grow, he becomes even braver and flies within touching distance. At this point I begin to watch the nest box a little more closely to try and work out how many young he has reared. Using my binoculars I see four, perhaps five little grey heads bobbing about in the open box but it is tricky to count them as they are particularly guarded. I know when they are ready to fledge however, because daddy kestrel suddenly goes quiet. He knows his best defence for his vulnerable family is to stay out of the way.

Every year our kestrels fledge but initially some of them are unable to fly. I am unsure whether they fall from the box, despite it being designed especially for kestrels or whether they get over enthusiastic when the older siblings fly and just leave regardless. I always have an anxious few days with young kestrels perched all over the farm yard that run or gallop about, hiding up at night to stay safe and that find their wings only when I have been driven to distraction. This was especially true five years ago when the owls wanted their nest box back and ousted the kestrels too soon which prompted me to buy their current box. It also happened two years ago when I fed a youngster for a good week by the shed. It was lovely to hear it chittering as I walked down and to see it begging for food and I am pleased to say it fledged successfully.

This year, however, I am afraid to say we had a casualty. The kestrels left the nest box as per usual and hopped around the yard. unfortunately one chose to sit on a trailer that the farmers were moving. They realised something was moving and stopped but the poor bird had fallen between some bags and injured its leg. It got itself into the straw and I watched from a distance. It seemed to be in good spirits and was darting about as they usually do. There was no way to catch it as it had found a straw bolthole which I felt assured would keep it safe at night. I knew I could feed it and as it was managing quite well on its leg I chose to feed it on the floor as I usually do and hope for the best.

Sadly it didn't make it. After a couple of night the chick I left for it was not taken and on further investigation I found the poor birds remains in the field. I suspect a fox had found itself an easy meal.Its always sad to lose a fledgling like this but they are so vulnerable at this stage and this one particularly so. I suppose the injury made it especially susceptible and I worried that I should have tried harder to intervene. I used my previous experience to make my decision and in this case it wasn't good enough.

I watched the other fledglings closely. Had we got five that were now sadly only four or had four turned into three? Initially they were very quiet and I wondered if  the family casualty had made them wary. Dad would fly in for food and they would sit in the straw unusually subdued but it didn't last long. Before the week was out they were chittering excitedly on my approach and circling me closely. They still hadn't sussed out that they could help themselves to food so when dad flew to the platform they mobbed him tirelessly, squabbling with each other when one managed to wrench a chick from dad's talons. Dad meanwhile remained patient with them, flying in numerous times only to have the food taken from him. He also remained vigilant against danger and I watched in awe as he took on a red kite that ventured too close to the farm.

It was as they grew braver that I was able to say for certain how many of the youngsters remained. The females plumage was closer in pattern to the juvenile birds so it was initially hard to work out whether I was watching four young kestrels or whether one of them was their mother but as time progressed and I watched them harangue the male bird it became quite clear that we did indeed have four surviving young kestrels. I don't think they have been as brave as previous years. The hay was cut as they found their independence and so perhaps this meant finding their own food became easier. 

I have however loved looking out for them on my evening walk with Max. I am used to their perches and pick them out across the farm waiting in the ash tree or balancing in the highest point of the horse chestnut. Last night as I gardened at dusk I saw two together flying back to the farm against a pink, cirrus patterned sky. As I watched them soar, I felt proud to be a small part of their success so far. 

Magical.

 The Barn Owl's fledging has been memorable and magical this year. It is my thirteenth  summer of watching the owls that I have helped to feed take those first, tentative fights from their nest boxes yet it never ceases to amaze me. Every year follows similar patterns yet every year I see something new. I don't think I'll ever tire of watching these beauties.

I first realised the owlets from east nest box were ready to fly when I saw those familiar white droppings all on the grass under the nest box. This tells me that the youngsters are venturing from the nest box itself and sitting on the porch. Often at nightfall and even in the mornings I could hear them scuttling about and was surprised to see a fully developed wing on one of them as it bustled back into the nest box. The other clue that fledging is imminent is when the parents go quiet. I suppose they don't want to draw any attention to the nest site itself at such a precarious time but by now, I read this as a sign to watch ever more closely.

What surprised me this year was the date at which they fledged. The first owlet could be seen out on the roof struts close to the box on the 25th May. According to the Barn Owl Trust, it takes 32 days for the egg to hatch and 63 days before the owlet is fully feathered, 95 days in total which means this pair laid their first egg on the 18th February. This is a good two weeks earlier than usual and undoubtedly down to the warm spring. This darker female was also very keen for food and seemed a confident mother, the sort who might take a chance and throw caution to the wind and her keenness seemed to have paid off.

By the 30th of May, one of the owlets had made it over to the straw stack in the field and I watched entranced as it sat blinking and bobbing at the strange new world around it. Within a few days I saw all three owlets , now fully feathered and flying short distances around the straw stack. I'll not forget creeping down with my camera only to realise they were all three staring indignantly at me from the straw and I had to crawl away in the most undignified manner in order not to disturb them. I then found that I didn't need to walk down to the farm as I could watch them leave the nest box and stretch their wings before flying round the dutch barn from my utility window, Its taken a long time to wash the dog and cat dishes over the past month as I stop and stare at the Barn Owl antics.

I have watched them since, both morning and evening as they grow in confidence and glide about the farm yard. Two girls and a boy, they still perch together for comfort and enjoy sitting under the foliage of the bordering trees. At feeding time they fly around me unsure whether to screech and send me off or hiss for food. I am a confusion of contradictions for them but a welcome sight nonetheless. As for the parents, well the dark female has totally disappeared, leaving her growing youngsters to feed for themselves, and a male is hunting every evening close to the beehive box.I suspect she is already sitting on a second brood. If ever there was a year where our owls produced three broods in a year this year has to be the one.

Meanwhile the pair in the combine shed have stuck far more rigidly to the usual plan. They were still taking food in to their youngsters during early June and as no one goes in there, this brood fledged at the usual time in total privacy. All I do is offer my phone camera up to the hole in the door and record what I can see. It showed me three owlets with a parent bird keeping a close watch upon them. One evening last week I stood beside the shed and heard a scuffling. A young owl was finding its way out to the back doors of the shed to begin its hunt. We were no more than a couple of metres apart when our eyes met through the wooden slats as it prepared to fly. This was my closest encounter with this brood. By mid June these owlets joined the east nest box youngsters and the sky was alive with owls at feeding time. It really is a tremendous sight to watch as the owls fill the darkening expanse as they circle and weave. 

As I walk  tonight, avoiding the grass field now to give them space, I see the Little Owl giving me a hard stare as he wills me along, I notice three, possibly four young Kestrels, whose fledging is a whole blog of its own, and I watch owls flying across the willowing grasses, honing their hunting skills and growing in both strength and confidence. It is beyond satisfying to know I have played my part in their success so far and I know how lucky I have been to have had that opportunity.

Abundance

 May is my very favourite month. Everything seems to be in bloom and wherever you look there is an abundance of greenery and life. The air is thick with pollen, and insects send a haze up over the grass field that seems to grow taller by the day . My owls are also showing me there is an abundance too. They have been hunting well both morning and evening and as I watch I see they are successful reasonably quickly. I suspect it is a good vole year and when this happens broods of owls are also large.

I am always mindful of disturbance. Barn Owls are a Schedule 1 bird which means it is illegal to disturb their nest site. It would be ludicrous of me to stop feeding and they are used to me walking the fields each morning and evening but I make sure that I do nothing more. Its awfully tempting to walk down, sit in the grass and watch them hunting to and fro but even though they know me, I know this is distracting them from the important job of providing for their young. Instead I take my camera on my usual walk but always continue on my way and leave them in peace.

Feeding time however, is breathtaking. Owls circle against the sunset or perch on the sheds waiting. The Kestrel flies in first and more recently a Little Owl waits on the corner of the dutch barn for his share. As I throw the food onto the roof I hear a dull thud as owls snatch the food away just above my head. 

Having lost adults in the past with tragic results though, I do like to check in on the owls from time to time. On two evenings this week I fed as usual and then watched from the farm gate to see that both pairs were present and also to see how many chicks they take in to the hungry broods. I watch the shed pair on the first evening where the owls dart through above the door gap.The female is bravest and flies straight over to the food upon the roof before hurrying back inside with it. I suspect she is our original female by the way she moves, by her confidence and by her mannerisms. I watched her twelve springs ago appearing from this very shed and I like to think I recognise her but there is something that has worried me which I will come to later. The male is far more tentative but between them they take seven chicks into the nest box before helping themselves to food which they take into the straw to eat.

The following evening I stood in a similar place and watched the box on the dutch barn. This is where the much darker female has her brood and despite it being her first year with us she is always first  to circle round me and always straight in for food. She will chase off any intruders and even assert herself with the other three adults who sit placidly together waiting. She's smart too. One morning when I walked Max she was out hunting. When I reached  the bottom of the grass field I watched her fly in and check out the feeding platform. She had realised it was me and despite it not being feeding time had made sure she wasn't missing out. At feeding time I watched her too flew from the shed roof over to her nest box but then she dropped down time and time again to take the food from the platform directly below her. I had to focus really hard but picked out two separate birds flying in with food and watched six chicks in total taken into the hungry brood. 

I am satisfied that all is well but am puzzled over the origin of the new female who seems so very different from the others. I am also concerned who she has replaced. I re read blogs and look through last year's photos. Last Autumn we had an especially dark female fledge from east nest box. Looking at photos this could well be the female that has made up one of our adult pairs this year. Now, although I never captured any adults last year, I thought that it was our second pair who had used this box last summer. If it was, and something happened to the female, surely the male wouldn't take one of his own young as his new mate? Unless both adults from the second pair perished over winter and a brand new pair have joined us which I think with the extra feeding is highly unlikely. 

                                                             Same bird as above?

Another possibility that I don't want to acknowledge is that we have actually lost our old female who would be thirteen this year and this youngster has paired up with her mate whom I refer to as our original pair.  I am holding out hope that the ringed female that I watched hunting late last week is actually her but unless we find her dead somewhere and identify her by the ring, or we recapture the female from the shed to confirm otherwise I really can't say for sure. As you can imagine I am watching them avidly.