A sad find.

 Despite the bitingly cold weather we have had over the past week, the natural world is looking forward to spring. Our Kestrels wait, side by side now, reestablishing their bond and showing a real interest in west nest box. I was also thrilled to see two Little Owls perched on the straw bales. They haven't been noticeable since last Autumn. They too are acknowledging the longer days and stronger sunshine that tells them spring is not too far away. The Barn Owls show me that they too are thinking of new families. They seem more hostile to the youngsters who still hiss at me from the straw stack as I approach and two adults are flying from the combine shed together. It fills me with excitement to see them like this

But there is one bird that won't be finding a mate and looking for a nest site this spring. After Storm Isher I walked down in trepidation. The wind had been relentless and the owls were unable to fly out for food. I knew one night alone wouldn't hurt them as they had been well fed during the cold, frosty spell. My biggest worry was that they would be blown out into the worst of the weather and become predated. Yet the youngsters were more experienced now and thankfully, when I arrived to check the following morning, there were no owls in the grass field or around the yard. It seemed that they had stayed in their roosts and kept themselves safe. 

It was as I returned to the yard that I spotted a light shape in the open sheds near the house. I went inside to check. Now, I am always imagining casualties, it simply goes hand in hand with what I do. When you look out for Barn Owls as I do, you imagine the worst for them too. Only recently I convinced myself that a fawn shape hunched on the side of the A47 was an injured owl only to find on the return journey that it was a sugar beet!! So the majority of the time my investigations bring me relief but not so that morning. I knew even from a distance that this was one of my Barn Owls laying dead on the dusty floor.

The poor thing was paper thin, just feather and bone and had undoubtedly starved. Its beautiful obsidian eyes were firmly shut and its wings were majestically spread in what seemed like a gesture of hopelessness. Initially I thought it was a male but its wings and back were deeply barred in grey  reminding me of an especially dark female that I had been watching on the farm since the summer. It had been dead for a while and I suspect had succumbed during the stormy weather in early January when Storm Henk brought us rain that made hunting impossible.

After twelve years I still find this hard. I'd heard of owls starving during the wet weather and even advised some people how to help them but never imagined it would happen on our site. I leave twenty day old chicks out each night, there was plenty to be had. Perhaps it hadn't flown in as rigorously as the others when the parents stopped providing for it. maybe it became injured and stranded in the shed. It possibly may not have even been one of our youngsters. Just a couple of years back we found a starved youngster in these very barns and its ring told us it came from a nearby nest site so maybe this bird was also from away and hadn't realised there was food offered. Since Christmas I had seen an owl peering at me from these sheds on my morning walk. How I wished now that I had kept a closer eye upon it.

I am beyond sad to notice that where two young owls sat closely in the straw waiting for me each evening there is now only one.I loved  the way these fledglings continued with their close bond despite leaving the nest box in October and it makes the death seem even more poignant. However, there is no point in dwelling on what has happened I have to move on. To look out for the owls that greet me each evening and watch for the kestrels on my morning. To do what I do and make a difference where I can.

 

Worrying

 The storms that have impacted the UK and, in turn our wildlife this winter, have been relentless. We began with Storm Agnes on the 25th September and have had a severe storm approximately every two weeks since then culminating in eight in total including Storm Henk on the 2nd January. Between these storms we have had deluge upon deluge of rain leading to flooded fields and brimming ditches. It's a hard time to be a Barn Owl.

(Our beautiful female )

Although these conditions are tricky for all wildlife, Barn Owls are especially susceptible. Their feathers aren't waterproof. This is necessary for silent flight and makes them a feared hunter as they can stalk their prey and strike without being heard. It does however mean that during rain they cannot hunt. Wet undergrowth proves tricky too as each time they strike for prey they become wetter and wetter. They are a species that need dry conditions to sustain themselves. Windy conditions also prove tricky for Barn Owls as they predominantly use their hearing to catch their prey. The wind makes this impossible so even if a Barn Owl can manage to fly in blustery weather it cannot hunt effectively.

                                                   (Thorney Fen last Spring)

With the extra food I leave out, ours seem to have fared well but they are desperate. They fly to meet me and circle low while they wait for the food. It is a pitiful sight to see a wild bird waiting on the food platform and behaving in a totally alien way because it is starving. The youngsters wait in the straw , hissing urgently as soon as they hear my voice. They should have broken this habit by now but are relying on me totally to see them through this weather.

Further afield I see signs of owls in trouble. On social media there are stories of birds starving to death at their roost sites as they wait for more hospitable weather. My sister had one hunting her fields at 1pm in the afternoon. As I drive home from work across the fen, I am caught unawares by a hungry owl out before dusk that scatters upwards in front of my car. I swerve and swear. This owl has been pushed beyond its comfort zone in its hunger. I look out for them whenever I drive and yet I narrowly missed this one. As I reach home I see one of ours just outside the farm gate, perched on a post, head down, concentrating on its hunt. Barn Owls will hunt in this way during the winter to conserve energy. Even with the additional food it seems ours are hungry too. 

There are up to ten owls waiting each evening. It is a humbling sight. Yet if I think beyond our immediate autumn broods I know that the summer owlets that I watched Charles ring will have most likely perished by now. Weather such as this is nearly impossible for inexperienced youngsters to tackle. Unless they have happened upon an excellent roost site, or stayed close enough to fly in to us their longevity is unlikely. Sometimes it feels that as part of the bigger picture I am not making a difference at all. I cannot take on Mother Nature and all that She can throw at us and win. The floods and the storms have shown us that entirely.

Weather in Fenland has undoubtedly changed. In his farming heyday my husband would get the crops in before the weather turned each autumn and springs were mild and welcoming. Now it is becoming normal to see this stormy, inclement weather through much of autumn and our springs are often cold and inhospitable. Whether you see the extremes in weather as climate change as most people are now acknowledging or whether you believe that extreme conditions have prevailed for centuries,there is no doubt that the climate is very different now. 

In the short term I can feed the owls and help them through the lean spells but long term I, like everyone, else need to look at how I can tread lightly on this earth of ours and minimise my impact. The RSPB's State of Nature reports estimates that 43% of bird species are at risk of extinction. I really hope the Barn Owl isn't one of them.