Celebrations and disappointments

 It was an impromptu call last Tuesday that gripped me with excitement;

"Are you about to check the nest boxes tomorrow?" Of course I was. My regular chores were forgotten and I eagerly looked forward to the following day. Wednesday dawned warm and bright. The sun always seems to shine on our nest box check although I remember one year when the rain slated down and we reconvened in the grain store to check those endearing bundles of fluff. This year the sun shone indulgently celebrating with us our modest successes. 

                                               I only note down exactly what I am told to.

I knew there were owlets in the combine shed. If I left the farm but waited by the gate the male owl was back within minutes, expertly darting between the gap afforded to him between the door and the shed frame. Counting each return had given me an estimate of the size of his family; four, five, six times he took in food and I was feeling optimistic. There was also a second clue, his mate had reappeared meaning the owlets were old enough for her to leave them.Initially she had worried me. I watched her circle her mate begging for food. When he wasn't forthcoming she flew into the shed and I worried for the owlets should this be a bird from the summer brood. The following night I witnessed a similar activity. She had quite obviously become so used to being fed in the nest box that she expected it to continue although she was now at liberty to help herself. Her mate was unperturbed and so, I reasoned, that I should be too.

We began the check in this very shed, a veritable barn owl heaven. It is rarely disturbed with two owl sized entrances for them to choose from and plenty of beams for perching and flying practice. The nest box was situated on the furthermost beam, dark, secure and warm. We watched as Paddy scaled the ladder and stared with rapt attention as he carefully extricated the bundles of fluff from the inspection hatch. There were five in total and rather unusual for us, the female was also in the box. The youngsters were taken to the truck to be checked and ringed.

All were well fed and tolerated the usual procedures. They were between two and four weeks old and mainly fluff although the older ones feathers were just starting to unfurl from the quill. These almost prehistoric little creatures clung to each other for comfort with one keeping its eyes tightly closed. Paddy checked, measured, weighed and ringed them as quickly and quietly as possible and I wondered to myself what the female must have thought to see her family so swiftly whisked away.

As Paddy went to collect the female I stared hard at these little paradoxes. They were so very helpless yet already their talons could slice straight through my skin. Looking objectively at them with their red skin showing through their patchy fluff and their oversized hooked beak they were almost grotesque yet my breath was taken away by the sight of them.

Mum took some catching and was decidedly unhappy to be captured yet we were delighted. Her ring number told us she was an older bird yet not one of Paddy's and I experienced a feeling of deja vu, almost certain we had been faced with a similar dilemma before. Paddy checked his notes on recaptures and there was our answer, This bird had been caught at the farm three times before, twice in 2012 as a young adult and again in 2015. She was at least into her tenth summer. My heart lurched as I considered her story. How many mates had she had? How many owlets raised? How many times had I watched her fly with ease along side me. Her longevity was incredible and I look forward to reading back through the blogs to find out more.

There were, however, disappointments. We checked the beehive box where I had regularly seen activity hoping for the second pair, but despite the hush the male barn owl flew from the box before the entrance could be secured. He flapped haphazardly across the grass filed before finding his bearings in the bright sunlight and heading to the cover of the ash tree. From here he gave us the most indignant stare as if to say,

"I trusted you, how very rude of you to disturb me!" To have caught him would have been the absolute icing on the cake giving us clear details of the first resident pair, but it wasn't to be. I was also disappointed to find no further signs of our second pair of barn owls although Paddy assured me that they would be close. The territorial screeching that resounds across the fens after feeding tells me there are still other adults close. Perhaps the lack of natural prey this year has made our first pair more precious about the farm site and they are more unwilling to share this much sought after location. I will be watching the other nest spaces in the straw gaps and even the house chimney as Autumn asserts itself. Despite these disappointments I remind myself of the huge achievement of having five owlets, across the fens Paddy only found three other females sitting on clutches of two or three eggs. We have cause for celebration indeed.

Harvest.

 August is my quiet month. It tests my loyalty to the owls such is their absence and it would be easy to cease the feeding, the evening walk, the watching and the wondering. Yet I know the females are likely to be sitting and after such a poor start to the year I remain hopeful for some autumn broods for our resident birds.

As August continues I have begun to see more of the adult birds. They wait once more in the ash tree, they fly jauntily across the yard and I see them alight upon the shed when they think I have left.Sometimes I catch one flying in to the combine shed with food but not enough to convince me that we have owlets, not yet. Upon walking over to the beehives just before sunset one evening we also saw an owl leave the beehive box. There are copious amounts of splashings directly below its entrance which tells me that this box is regularly used, but by who?

What is more noticeable is the shrieking and vocalisations that continue long after I have delivered the food. Some of the owls are far from happy and I cannot work out if it is the adult birds getting cross with each other or whether the parents are still having trouble sending the first brood babies away. If it was up to me they could all stay on site and live as one big happy family but I know that isn't how it works. What the increased agitation does tell me is that owlets may be imminent and with the increased sightings I had become optimistic for some good news.

However harvest is now thankfully underway. The combines have come lumbering out to transform the fields. The owls have gone to roost having hunted the tall golden crops and awoken to shorn acres of farmland. These conditions make for rich pickings and so, for the last ten days, my owls have been quiet once again. It is reassuring that when they can hunt with ease that they ignore the food I bring and I have cut back drastically. Even the adult kestrel who had resumed his usual spot in the westernmost eaves fails to show and the little owls that glared at me and were even more reliable than the barn owls are nowhere to be seen. 

Yet just as I get used to an absence of owls once more the rain began midweek, halting the farmer's relentless hoarding and made for impossible hunting conditions. I fed as usual and just as I was leaving I caught sight of an owl flying towards the shed. I stood motionless, hidden by the hedge in the shadow of the straw.From here I could watch without risk of disturbance. I hadn't seen an owl flying this keenly since last winter and sure enough, it headed straight into the shed. I waited patiently. One, two, three, four times it flew out for food and returned to the shed. The fifth time it disappeared I darted silently out of the yard in a bid not to alert it to my presence. I am delighted to report that it seems August may be not so quiet after all.

Anticipation

 August is an odd month. On the farm it is the culmination of the year's hard work and the harvest is looked towards with more than a little trepidation. Farmers watch each other's movements anxiously all of them willing the crop to ripen in readiness for the fine weather. Until everything aligns they can but wait but the anticipation can be sensed across the golden swathes of countryside.

It is my quietest month with the owls but I know that they are also anticipating busier times ahead in the form of second broods. It is now mid August and I am already being greeted a little more keenly by the male bird that waits high in the ash tree. We have an unspoken agreement, I leave the food here first and whilst I take food over to the dutch barn and the shed where his mate is sitting he helps himself from my first offerings. By the time he has finished I am leaving the farm. As my torch pans over to the farm gate I watch him fold himself neatly as he enters the narrow space into the shed. He now has food for his mate and if I am correct, for their newly hatched owlets. His keenness and new found bravery tell me that he is feeding more than just his female. 

The trail cam showed him extremely attentive around this chosen nest site a couple of weeks back and this was where I found the moult feathers indicating that she was sitting on eggs. What a ingenious plan to moult whilst confined to the nest box; what an admirable piece of multitasking. He has, however, outwitted me as to his roost site. On the odd occasion that I have entered the shed I haven't seen him leave yet he is nowhere to be seen. What the photos have shown me is that he may have a coloured ring in which case he is our male from last year that managed two wives at once. I am happy to think that this bird is still on site and apparently thriving.

The whereabouts of the second pair is still a mystery. I have seen little activity around the chimney but there is an area in the roof of the grain dryer with a broken vent and the opening is peppered with splashy droppings. It would make for a fine owl roost with little disturbance and I intend to do a little surreptitious detective work around that area. After such a poor start to the year two autumn broods would be a delight. The youngsters from June are still visiting. I sometimes hear their insistent hissing as they return in the hope of a free meal yet their visits will soon end. With an imminent second brood the parents will send them away and the screeching we hear after feeding time across the golden crops seem to indicate that this ousting may happen sooner rather than later. Midweek I watched a female hunting before dusk, quartering the ditches and alighting on a branch overlooking the farm's easternmost border. This had to be one of the youngsters and I watched with rapt attention at her focus, her poise and her deadly precision. I hope that her forced eviction into the wider world coincides with the harvest when the voles run scared and she is able to benefit from this bounty. 

As if to make way for the second broods the kestrels have also left the safety of the farm. Their noisy clamouring each morning has lessened until now I only hear the faintest of chattering as I arrive with food. Each evening I shine the torch up onto the air vent of the wheat store. Once there were four stout little bodies huddled together, then three. By last weekend only one remained, probably the last to fledge the nest and as such the last to spread its wings. Last night there were none and I felt sad and proud and relieved that they had made it, all at once. Tonight I walked a different route covering six fields along the riverbank and I was accompanied by a kestrel the whole way home. It was a little reward for my work and such acknowledgement makes my anticipation of new broods ever sweeter.

  

As summer turns.

I remember early on in my teaching career thinking that the six weeks holiday heralded the beginning of summer. Now I have come to realise that by the time we say goodbye and good luck to our pupils the summer is already past its best. The greenery and lush abundance of June has faded into golds and yellows, the flowers that my bees worked so ardently are now soft seed heads and the harvest has already begun.

I notice this changing of the seasons when I feed the owls in that the evenings are already shorter. At the height of midsummer I could walk confidently down to the farm at eleven o'clock and still not need a torch. Now I am hurrying down before ten and on a cloudy evening the farm is already swathed in a darkness that seems unfamiliar and leaves me alert and edgy  How quickly I have forgotten the deep hues of a Fenland evening in December.

July brings a quiet calm to the owl's behaviour. The youngsters are beginning to hunt for themselves and as such the adult's urgency for food quickly dissipates. Midweek I decided to wait behind after feeding to see the owl's movements and glean clues from their farmyard when they assumed I had left. I found the perfect spot; a concrete block in the shadow of the grain store with perfect views of both nest boxes and also the combine shed. The air was warm and still after rain and I hugged my knees and smiled to myself. The anticipation of the show that was about to unfold in front of me still grips my attention with the fascination that it did from the start.

Within minutes the youngest owlet began hissing from the nest box. It is capable of flying but has learned that if it is present at the nest site it will be fed. It was reassuring to hear it calling so urgently and my satisfaction was compounded when it was joined by its sibling that flew haphazardly from a nearby tree and crash landed on the nest box. I sat captivated as the two youngsters greeted each other with a cacophony of sounds, a loud scuffling and their usual tap dance on the wooden nest box floor.

Their antics were so engaging that I hadn't noticed the little owl on the roof struts but it had noticed me. Even though I could only see its silhouette I knew it was staring directly at me with those oversized eyebrows raised and an expression of disbelief at my actions. Before I could react a barn owl appeared to my left and sat surveying the yard from the shed door. I knew it was imperative that I remained motionless or it would hear me. I froze barely daring to breathe and willing the little owl to remain silent and not give away my whereabouts. With my eyes firmly fixed on the barn owl I detected a noise to my right, a low thud which unnerved me entirely.It resounded across the farm yard two,maybe three more times and with my gaze towards the owl I couldn't turn to face whatever horror was in the opposite direction. I reasoned with myself that the kestrel, who has learned to fly after dark, was helping itself to food as this version of events was one I could handle. The little owl continued to behave itself and as such I settled down for the show.

The barn owl effortlessly left the shed door and collected the food below before flying over to the nest box inhabited by the youngsters. Although they were now quite capable of flying down for food themselves they demanded to be fed. The adult didn't make it into the box, instead it was rudely mobbed on the porch and sent off for more. Six times it collected food from two feeding stations and flew to feed them yet the youngsters continued to hiss. The clamour was so loud I even considered whether there were also other fledglings from a different brood in the box. 

When the owl adult bird decided that the youngsters were provided for, it took food into the shed but didn't stay inside to eat it. This could only mean it delivered supplies to its mate. It is quite plausible that she is building up her laying weight for a second brood and with the youngsters still at the first nest box it looks as if this pair have requisitioned the shed box for themselves. But what of the other pair that had a failed brood here in June?

The barn owl seemed still none the wiser of my whereabouts and I wanted to walk home without alarming it. I relish this game of cat and mouse which sets my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping. How to leave the farm yard without the owls realising I have been watching them for the past twenty minutes is indeed a challenge. Fortunately for me, it glided out of sight round to the house and I took the opportunity and swiftly left to walk home, satisfied with myself and the knowledge I had gleaned.

I was reassured that the youngsters were growing and thriving and that the adults were considering a second brood but I was puzzled as to where our second pair were. As I sat motionless that evening an owl had flown in for food and rather magnificently flew directly past me, so close I could feel the draft from its wings. Was this our second male taking food to his mate? I wondered about the owl that flies in from the north. Had our second pair grown tired of the competition especially with the kestrels behaving so dominantly this year and moved away only to fly back in for supplies? Yet as quickly as I considered this possibility I discounted it, as this individual has flown in for a good few years including times when we have ringed both broods. I scoured the farm for possible nest sites. The beehive box has stock doves in it and the kestrels are still using west nest box. With youngsters in east nest box and their parents in the shed all the nest boxes are occupied.

There is an owl that flies to the freshly stacked hay in the dutch barn by the road. I look carefully and find perfectly owl sized holes that could easily house these secretive birds. With a start I realise that on more than one occasion I have watched an owl fly here and anticipated its exit from the farm only for it to disappear. A nest here would be a new venture for the owls. Then I remember the chimney. We've had brood raised here before and my neighbour told me of the fuss the jackdaws had been making upon the chimney pot. On investigation I find a fresh owl pellet on the drive, a clue to their whereabouts or a total red herring? I am avidly watching.

Tenacity

It has been the most dreadful of weeks with unseasonably strong winds and incessant rain. This was such uncompromising weather for both the barn owls and the kestrels to fledge into, yet with unflinching tenacity that is exactly what these youngsters did. Having watched and nurtured them for so many weeks now, it has been a worrying time and one that I felt sure would come to an inevitably, sorry conclusion.

It began last Saturday as I braved the blustery conditions to check some of the hives. On returning to the farm John informed me they had seen one of the young owls flying low across the cut hay. This was mid afternoon and the wind was increasing by the minute. I found the youngster huddled uncomfortably behind some zinc pretending it wasn't there. Under normal circumstances it would have been able to get back up to the nest box but the previous night I had watched even the experienced adults struggle against the wind to reach the nest box porch. The challenge for this youngster was seemingly too great.

My dilemma was that this was not a helpless nestling and in attempting a capture, I would most likely send it out from this relatively safe roost. I chose instead to watch from a distance determined to search for it carefully at dusk when I knew it would feel less vulnerable. I walked down at ten o'clock whistling my welcome and immediately picked out a white figure in the field with a black outline close. The stray cat that frequents the farm had seen the young owl and fancied its chances. Meanwhile the owl was doing its best to defend itself. With wings out and head down it had made itself as imposing and threatening as it could and the cat was thankfully unsure about attacking it. Upon my arrival the cat bounded off and the owl flew a little way, still hampered by the gusty wind. I took off my jacket and approached in the hope that I could cover it and transfer it to the safety of the straw but my approach merely sent it over to the trees to the right of the farm. This was further from the safety of the dutch barn and I knew I had to leave it and simply hope it stayed safe.

I dreamt of owls that night and upon waking I headed straight down. There was no sign of the owl. No sign of it roosting behind the zinc yet no sorry pile of feathers to tell me its bravery had been its undoing. But the more I looked the more despondent I became. There were so many places for a young owl to hide and without its parents knowing its whereabouts it would be growing weaker and weaker. I checked over and under the trailers, between the bales and under the woodpile. I peered into the sheds between the cracks in the door and used my torch to scour the dark recesses of the open sheds. I investigated the crew yard with its high beams and stacks of wooden trays but it all seemed so futile. The more I searched the more places I imagined a scared and hungry owl might be. Those hollyhocks so magnificent against the farm house or the everlasting sweet peas under the apple tree were perfect cover and the huge expanse of uncut hay would hide the remains of an inexperienced young owl until the weather settled and work commenced again.

 Yet there was a glimmer of hope. I checked the trail camera I had left in the newly baled hay and felt a fluttering of optimism. At three in the morning a male owl with a ring clearly visible had checked the camera, and was photographed inquisitively peering at the screen. This trailer was directly below the owlets box and provided a stepping stone back up to a safe roost. If it had returned to the dutch barn it may well have found its way back to the nest box after all.

Sunday continued unseasonably windy and the kestrels left their nest box. They seemed to fare better than the owl and I watched in fascination as they challenged the wind that turned the barley field into a boiling broth of fury. At least three of them flew as if they were already experts and I marvelled at their dexterity. Just one stayed behind calling pitifully, clearly too timid to take the plunge. Having watched this family alongside the owls I worried for them too and willed the wind to calm.

When it did settle it was replaced with the owl's other enemy; rain. Midweek was the wettest spell in July that I can remember for many years with low cloud hanging over the wind turbines and rain so heavy that the barley collapsed with the sheer weight of water. I took a different route along the river and felt sick to the stomach as I approached  a buff coloured object in the hedge roots. I was berating myself for not checking this area for owlets before when I realised it was an old potato sack. My greatest fear was that whilst I would hate to find the owlet predated far worse would be to find it had perished from hunger and I hadn't located it in time.

I looked and listened with extra effort each evening, well aware by now of the habits of newly fledged owls and I was keen to see the youngster at feeding time. I listened carefully under the nest box but only the one remaining owlet hissed forlornly calling its parents for food. I stood in the darkness by the gate and watched. There was more activity by the shed and I began to hope the first fledgling had found its way in to this secure roost.

On Wednesday the rain was particularly persistent and I ran with the food in my winter coat and wellies. You can only imagine my relief and delight when I was greeted by an owl in the straw peering curiously at me. The adults would have flown but this one stayed put, continuing to stare and bob and weave, trying to make sense of this strange woman that appeared as if by magic each night. I rushed home to tell Rob with the weight and worry of the past week lifted.

On Thursday, its sister, the younger owlet, joined her brother in the big wide world. The rain had slowed to an annoying drizzle that soaked just as quickly as the heavy storms and as I approached the nest box there was a skittering sound as this second owlet took flight. It sounded as if it was wearing roller skates as it careered out of the box and into the grass field. I hastily left but not before the adult female arrived at the box and peered inside. Her  confusion was palpable when she found it vacated. I felt beyond sorry to see her so bereft after all her hard work yet she seemed to nonchalantly shrug off this series of events and take the food to the shed for herself.

Today summer has regained her composure and we have blue skies and a faint breeze.  I walked down with the trail camera to secure it in the shed but was stopped abruptly on the bridge. Unaware of my approach two owls were leaving the box and once again I recognised the behaviours to be those of youngsters. The first one stretched its wings while perched on the roof struts before alighting on the roof itself. The second peered warily round the box before jumping upon the nest box itself and staring all around. They were back! They had survived the weather and those first precarious flights and they had found their way back to the safety of the box where their parents would continue to sustain them as they grew in independence. I felt proud and relieved and emotional all at once. I have watched so many vulnerable youngsters that I should have trusted their resilience, their proficient nature and those finely honed instincts of theirs. My clever, capable owls.

Midsummer box check.

It was the most perfect midsummer day with the huge Fenland skies radiating a deep blue and the sun beating down hotter than the Savannah. I walked the dog early both for his sake and in anticipation of my morning visitor as Paddy was out this way and happy to check the owl boxes for me. He arrived soon after nine and after a socially distanced greeting we made our way separately down to the farm.I was sorry not to see Chalky, his usual accomplice. I knew that he would be disappointed too but this year things were, out of necessity, going to be handled very differently.

 

Earlier this year we anticipated that nest box checks would not be happening at all. When the lockdown first began and only the most vital jobs continued it became obvious that this sort of monitoring would be considered a luxury. For those who have carried out nest box checks for years, even decades it is disappointing to say the least to have a gap in the data but rules are rules. With the easing of restrictions checks have started again but not with the same capacity. Paddy was delivering a nest box in this area and kindly detoured to us.Many boxes across The Fens will be left this year.

 

 

We began in the shed where I was sure we had a failed brood. The shed smelt strongly of owls and we suspected it was still a roost site but the box confirmed my suspicions when we found a clutch of perfectly white eggs which were stone cold. We then headed across the grass field to the beehive box. I had seen some owlish activity over here in recent nights but the box revealed evidence of squirrels and was currently being used by stock doves. As we stood in this quiet corner of the farm a barn owl quartered low over the grass and continued along the dyke edge. It was the first I had seen hunting during daylight hours for weeks and we guessed that it had most probably been roosting in the shed and exited from the back when we entered. The kestrels watched the proceedings too, no doubt hopeful that there would be something in this visit for them. They had been watching the haymaking closely the previous day, ever opportunistic and always looking for an easy lunch.

 

 

We saved east nest box until last and I fervently hoped that there would still be live owlets to check.I had been walking down each evening with huge trepidation and although the previous evening I had continued to hear them hissing I was aware times were difficult. I watched with more than a little dread as Paddy was lifted skywards and the box was opened. 

It is the most wonderful moment when he peers inside the inspection hatch and then turns and nods. First out was a well feathered male, its eyes taking in the big wide world before it was gently placed in the dark bag for its journey down. There was another heart stopping moment when Paddy panned the torch around the box interior once more before reaching inside to reveal a second owlet, this one sporting more owlet fluff but also a good size.

 

 

These two precious bundles were brought to ground level and quietly and expertly handled. Once laid upon their backs they stayed relatively still and were measured, weighed and ringed. All the details were meticulously recorded on their very own form. Whilst checking these two little precious bundles, Paddy told me that during the checks that he had managed to carry out in Northamptonshire, very few sites were occupied. The slump in vole numbers which had been anticipated after last year's glut year had been exacerbated by the wet winter. He identified the oldest of ours as a male at about seven weeks old with the youngest one being a female possibly a week younger. As I took quick photos of these beautiful birds I knew that the future was bleak for them in such spartan times but I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind. They were alive at present and I would do my best by them whilst I could.

 

 

As he returned the youngsters to their nest box I asked Paddy to dispose of the carcass of the dead owlet at the front of the box. It was sad to see the tatty remains but there was some consolation in it for me. I could see that this one was younger than the tumbler I had returned a week previously. It had concerned me that perhaps it had been weakened by its night away from the nest site and had succumbed as soon as we had returned it. By looking at the photos I had taken that morning and the photos of the two owlets we had ringed it seemed that the tumbler had indeed been the oldest male that we had ringed that morning none the worse for its night out.

 

 

It was a morning of limited successes, of small congratulations and count your blessings. There was an acknowledgement that nature is formidable and we can play our part but much is out of our control. Yet still I smiled for much of the day at our little accomplishment from our modest corner of Fenland..

 

Calamity.

I was so very happy to have the owlets hissing and raising a racket as I walked down each evening. I imagined them testing their flying skills on the newly stacked hay and fledgling across the freshly cut hay field. As this past week commenced I realised serious trouble for the owlets and for some of them, my realisation has come too late.

It was last Monday as I walked down early before work and was excited to see a little form on the nest box porch. As I crept stealthily closer it didn't move and I was virtually under the nest box itself when I realised we had lost one of the owlets. Its partially formed wing was draped over the box edge, quite lifeless. I left it there in the hope that the parents would discard it and I could examine its sorry remains for clues of its demise but in their usual unsentimental way the adults ignored it and it was left to Rob throw it down when he was in the straw stack.

It didn't need an expert to ascertain the cause of death. The owlet was about six weeks old with its wing feathers forming nicely but it was little more than skin and bone. It had undoubtedly starved. I increased the feeding yet the following morning I was greeted by an owlet that had tumbled from the box.It was sitting jauntily upon a lorry body eyeing me warily. I wrapped it in my cardigan and laid it upon its back feeling it immediately relax and this was how I waited for Rob and Sam to fetch the ladder and return it to its roost. As I stood quietly I was startled to feel how thin this youngster was too yet I simply couldn't understand why. The weather had been reasonably settled and I hadn't noticed the adults hunting by day which would indicate that they were struggling. We left the kestrel's breakfast in the box with this youngster and I considered the possibility that we may have lost one of the adult birds. This would undoubtedly lead to difficult times and I watched them ever more closely after dark whilst still keeping my distance.

 These events alone would have been a sorry state of affairs yet things were compounded further on the Thursday. Whilst leaving food as close to the box as we dare Sam noticed feathers at the front of the box. A quick photo told us that another owlet had perished. It was probably too old to be the tumbled owlet but as with the first casualty this one was well formed with an almost full set of wing feathers. Once again, it seemed that starvation was the most likely cause.

I racked my brains and asked around for advice. Last year had been a bumper year for barn owls due to the glut of field voles. A year such as this is always followed by a slump in vole numbers. Events began to make sense. My dog spent the whole of last summer pouncing upon voles in the grass field but this year he hasn't done this at all. My cats have not returned home with that obligatory gift of a juicy fat vole for me. It would seem that the owls aren't hunting as there is very little to catch. I considered the weather and another owl enthusiast pointed to the exceptionally dry conditions. Vole eat green shoots and with no rain whatsoever during April and May there were no green shoots to sustain the few voles we had. They wouldn't breed in such conditions.

I was beyond cross with myself for not realising sooner. The hissing and hubbub that I had witnessed and the bravery of the owlets was simply because they were starving. I had a freezer full of food and had I realised I could have left more. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but sadly it is too late for these owlets. I now walk down each evening in enormous trepidation anticipating silence where once there was new life. As yet there appear to be two still alive that hiss urgently. The other positive news is that there still appear to be two adults flying in to feed them. I hope we can save them yet.

But it is not all sadness. The little owls have fledged and I catch sight of their tiny barrelled bodies ricocheting through the air each evening. The kestrel chicks are also on the cusp of fledging and I see at least three of these chittering excitedly as dad flies in with breakfast to their nest box home. Finally, with the summer solstice, the owl that flies in from the north can clearly be seen going to and fro as it collects its share of the cache. Without these other hungry raptors it is true to say my owlets may still be alive but I cannot dictate where the food will go.Although I am immensely sorry and guilt ridden that their little lives were cut short I can only look put this down to bitter experience and look for the positives. With the lockdown easing Paddy will come soon to check the nest box. I hope by then I have happier news to report to you.

Still learning.

 I woke up to rain this morning and as I write this, the rain is hammering down on the roof once more. I am not complaining as the farmers desperately needed this. One of the things the lockdown will be remembered for is the clear blue skies that helped to lift our spirits. It almost felt as if nature was showing us how beautiful she could be when our lives were stripped bare.

The owls benefited from this sustained dry spell which took us through April and May. During April I barely saw an owl but continued to dutifully deliver the food which I knew they would need with females sitting so early in the season . The vole population hadn't built up sufficiently to provide for so many mouths and as my feeding had lulled them into sitting so soon I had an obligation to help them. As May arrived I began to hear that soothing familiar hiss of the barn owlets calling for food and the parents became more noticeable once more despite the settled weather.

This incessant rain is not welcomed by the owls. As their owlets grow and become more demanding they have suddenly found it impossible to hunt. I sense their urgency as I walk down. I feel ambiguous about seeing them flying so bravely. It is thrilling to watch them so brazen, circling me as I walk and flying alongside me but I know it is simply out of necessity and that concerns me.

Last night I chose to wait and watch them. All of the adults wait for me by the house but there is a kestrel here too. It flies in first, much to the owls disdain. It has the audacity to sit over the food choosing carefully but they are too impatient and fly in sending him upwards and away. Most of the adults fly back to their tree perches and I assume they eat my offerings whilst I drop food at the other three feeding stations. One, however flies over to the sheds and I run back in that direction hoping to see which nest box it takes the food to. I am far too slow and it is in and away again before I arrive in this quarter.

The oldest owlets are delightful. They must be about five weeks old. I know because they come right out of the nest box when I whistle and peer precariously over the edge of the nest box to look at me. It is beginning to rain yet still they jostle to take a peep at me. The hissing reaches a crescendo and I realise that for their safety I need to walk as quietly and unobtrusively to their nest box so as not to cause any of them to fall. Yet still I delight at their fluffy little hair styles and those large obsidian eyes staring directly at me.

The little owls, meanwhile have fledged. The adults make such a fuss that I can tell exactly where their babies are by their increased vocalisations. One of the adults watches me with that indignant look upon its face from the shed roof struts. It looks as if the wind has changed whilst it was having grumpy thoughts and this is now its default mode. I worry for the youngsters with so much activity from the other raptors but there is little I can do but hope they stay safe.

Over by the grain store there is an area in the shadows. I settle down to watch, hidden in the darkness. If I had momentarily forgotten how silent barn owls are in flight I was to have it beautifully illustrated to me. Within a couple of minutes the first owl glided in so very close to me that its wing tip nearly brushed my cheek. It was accompanied by another owl further away but they weren't a pair. The second bird landed deftly upon the platform and flew straight back out of the farm. It too had owlets but not here. The other owl busied itself. I watched in fascination as it took a chick from the platform beneath its box, flew to the shed to rearrange its grip and then straight back up to the box. It did this four times in quick succession. The noise from the box was immense, akin to something from a horror movie. The screeching intensified and they scuffled and squabbled over the food. Talons scraped across the box floor making them sound demonic. It was hard to imagine that such almost supernatural noises were coming from those endearing bundles of fluff.

I had waited specifically to find out a little more about the shed pair. I still rarely see the adult birds taking food in and cannot help but wonder if this brood has failed. Perhaps this pair are more competent hunters and as such less reliant upon me but I would have expected more activity. As I stood silently the female returned. She sat on her door gap and peered below at the food. Meanwhile the adult that had been feeding the hungry owlets continued to collect food, and alighted just below her. I watched in admiration as these two birds sat quite companionably close to each other. I have seen their territorial side and it is quite terrifying yet here they sat together, bound by the common cause of providing for their families. As they both flew off to their nest sites I took my leave, happy to learn something new about these formidable birds.