Patterns

 After fourteen years of feeding the owls there are reliable patterns in their behaviour that I see as the year progresses and these patterns are most obvious in the spring. It's reassuring and satisfying to anticipate the owl's next move as it tells me that all is well with them and reminds me of the many happy years I've already enjoyed watching them.

As soon as the new year begins the adult birds begin to re-establish their bonds. They spend longer at the nest site, preening and fussing each other. Up until now they have been tolerant of their Autumn broods but this very quickly changes and as I walk out each evening I can hear the adult birds screeching at the youngsters and showing a real animosity towards them. Whilst it sounds alarming it is also almost comical to watch these young birds as they continue to fly in and face the rage of their parents. I've stood for many evenings this spring as a young Barn Owl careers out of the yard with a day old chick in its talons. Initially these youngsters stay close. I watched one hunting the busy bank within a few hundred yards of the farm ,whilst another roosted in a disused stable. Eventually they must get tired of running the gauntlet each night and, as the weather improves they disperse further afield. I miss their antics.

The next thing I notice is that the females are far less noticeable as they spend more time at their chosen nest site. The males continue to fly bravely in and sometimes take food in to the females but the females continue to show briefly even after they have laid eggs. Our Barn Owls usually lay their first eggs in early March. We work this out when the owlets fledge, counting back the thirty to thirty-two days it takes for an egg to hatch and adding on the sixty-three days it takes from an owl to hatch until they fledge. Last year's owlets appeared on the 20th May which meant the first egg was laid late February. From March this year I noticed our females far less. They recognised my whistling and knew food was left when they heard me depart. It was an easy option to leave their precious eggs and pop out for the food and I played my part by leaving the farm quickly and quietly.

Once the owlets hatch the adult owl's behaviour changes again. Now the owls are far more secretive and for a while I barely see them at all. It is of utmost importance that they safeguard the location of their nests and that includes keeping it secret from me too. We have six possible sites that the owls could use and I watch them all avidly for clues. Furthest away is the beehive box which, as its name suggests, is close to my beehives. It is the oddest shape, like a small house with a covered porch. The inspection hatch is too small and often blocked with debris but the owls love it. It is a quiet corner of the farm surrounded by trees and always a popular choice. Next is a box that was gifted to us and situated in the walnut tree. It should be popular but as yet, the owls haven't used it. It is however, popular with squirrels and not wasted at all. Next is the farmhouse itself. It has two large and disused chimneys which the Jackdaws have used and as such have the perfect platform for our owls to use. The chimneys have the advantage of not being accessible and so there is no fear of interference.There is, however, the worry of owlets falling down the chimney itself. Heading across the yard we next come to the combine shed, as I call it although the farmers know it as the hay barn. An older box that was taken down from the dutch barn was considered too good to scrap and so was popped inside this disused shed and it quickly became a favourite site which is used for first or second broods every year. Finally, there are two boxes on the dutch barn, both facing south onto the grass field.They are tucked up high in the eaves and are the original nest sites having been used for nearly thirty years now. East nest box is. on the eastern corner of the barn while west nest box is obviously on the western corner.  This dutch barn also houses a Little Owl box on the western side and a Kestrel box on the eastern side, both of which are used each year. It is a very  busy building and where I feed too.

After a couple of weeks of quiet as the owlets grow and become hungrier, I notice other familiar signs. The owls begin to hunt during the daytime, especially after wet or windy weather. This is a real treat for me as our owls rarely need to hunt by day at any other time and I love seeing them gracefully quartering the grass. They also start to show more keenly again at feeding time although they are still careful not to visit the nest sites until I leave. I watch eagerly to see where they go and listen carefully for the urgent hissing that tells me there are owlets close by.  I currently have no idea who is where or how many owlets they may have but I am watching closely and enjoying every moment.

Winter wonders

 The Fens are at their best in the winter. I tend to think that these big skies and vast open spaces are best appreciated during the colder months when the greys and browns of reeds and rushes are backlit by the setting sun. We are also lucky enough to have a myriad of winter migrants join us across these flat fields and among them are the Short-eared owls.

I adore watching these birds. They appear as if from nowhere, flapping those huge wings in an almost lazy fashion, and meandering from side to side. Facially they are beautiful with ear tufts that give them their name and the most remarkable yellow eyes that are lined with a smokey darkness and indicate that these owls are diurnal and hunt at dawn and dusk.

We've always had Short-eared owls on the farm. My late brother in law often told me how they disturbed them from the tussocky grass each winter when the dykes and ditches were dredged and cleared. In more recent times my son remembers going for a run and having one of these beauties fly alongside him, and so of course, each winter when I walk across the fields I keep a keen eye out for them.

I first saw them this year in October. They are clever birds, and always one step ahead of me. My first sighting was close to the straw stack when an owl was hunting from the parked up digger. It flew in front of me as I walked making sure I was always a suitable distance away. If it landed on the dyke side, it was immediately hidden, if it watched me from the field I had to keep an eye on it or it would have blended in against the dark clay. We walked a complete circuit of the field like this with the owl tantalisingly close but always a safe distance away until it ended up where it began, perched on the digger bucket and I left it to hunt in peace.

After this first encounter I saw Short-eared owls on a regular basis. I say owls because there were at least two hunting the field borders and margins. They would suddenly lift up from the dyke edge and fly ahead of me. It seemed that when I walked without my camera they would fly close and perch nearby yet when I took my camera down with me they either never appeared or simply stayed two fields away. They quickly became my nemesis this year making me even more determined to capture a good photo before the winter was through.

However before too long my owl watching was interrupted by more of our winter migrants. First the Whooper swans came to feed upon the sugar beet that had been harvested next to the farm quickly followed by pink footed geese. Although we have been lucky enough to have the swans for a number of years, pink footed geese were a new species for us and they were impressive as they numbered a few hundred. I loved watching them swirl in each morning and the sound they made was incredible. Whether it was swans or geese it meant that I walked a different route in order not to disturb them. This meant that for the majority of the winter I also avoided the best area for the Short-eared owls. I do however remember one memorable occasion when the geese took flight and as I busied myself taking shots of the action a Short-eared owl flew up from the grass right in front of me. My camera was set wrong and all I could do was gaze in awe as it flapped across the field and disappeared over the hedge

The swans have flown now, the geese have too I suppose and so, during late February and into March I have kept a look out for the owls. I know that they will also soon be leaving for the moors and I rather hoped for that photo. My last sighting was on March 5th when I suddenly realised an owl was hunting from a post just a few metres away but since then, nothing. That was until this afternoon when I took an impromptu walk across the grass field and Max put up a Short-eared owl that flew over onto the ploughed field to watch us indignantly. As we walked closer it flew across two fields and watched us from the hedgerow. The sun was beautiful so I decide to take Max home and return with my camera. I was only absent for five minutes but in that time the owl had returned to the rough grass and I had missed my chance. Rather than risk disturbing it a second time I returned home.

There was, however, a winner in the whole affair. When I left Max at our house I gave him his tea. Before I returned Rob arrived home and Max asked for his tea again. Much to his delight was given a second one. I am sure he will be hoping the Short-eared owls stay just a little longer.

The Magnificent Seven.

 The hardest thing about caring for something is the letting go and that is where we currently are with the owls. These youngsters fledged the nest in September and have been lucky enough to stay on site through winter and this winter here in the Fens this year has been tough. We've had our usual share of storms but this season its the harsh temperatures that have made things particularly difficult. Last year, I could count the frosty mornings we had on one hand. This year, since Christmas, we have had two or three each week. Although we've not had so much rain, we have had misty weather which leave the grass as soggy as rainfall and makes hunting tricky. As February progresses, the weather is not yet improving but the lengthening days mean the adults are thinking of pairing up and these young owls will soon be leaving.

Owl feeding in January is my very favourite time of the year. Because of the conditions they are super keen and show really well. I am regularly met by seven owls flying low over and perching on the sheds waiting for me. They fly out of the open sheds during the worst weather and circle between the dutch barn and the combine shed. They come out of the straw and wait in the various trees nearly out of reach of my torch. They've even taken to waiting on the farm house itself either using the chimney or the television aerial as their vantage point. 

My oldest female always flies in first. She knows me so well she doesn't fly away however close I walk to her and when I throw the first handful of food onto the shed roof, I wait for the familiar "clunk" that tells me she has taken her share. If not. I end up hitting her with handfuls of day old chicks as she is unbelievably keen. Once I've moved over to the second feeding platform which is about ten metres away the other adults fly in too. The youngsters are distinguished by their reluctance to come too close and fly back and forth willing me to leave. Once I've walked towards the grain store I can see them flying in, wings held high and talons outstretched,to take the food off to their roosts. 

But just as signs of spring begin to appear there are subtle changes in the owl's behaviour. There is certainly more screeching occurring at feeding time. I assume this is the adults warning the youngsters that this is their patch and they are welcome for just a short while longer but it could also be the youngsters testing their maturity. With the atmosphere being far less amenable now and I begin to notice more movement from the young owls. One is beginning to roost in empty sheds close by, still close enough to visit the farm but certainly off site. Another is often to be seen along the river hunting the deep sides and waiting on the fence posts as it hunts for itself. I see another flying close to the road during rush hour, flying haphazardly back and forth among the traffic. I hear myself muttering to it to head back to the safety of the farm and find myself slowing down to slow the rest of the traffic too. Later that evening I make a detour on a journey to check for casualties, and when I feed I am relieved to see my magnificent seven fly in as usual, however, the incident stays with me.

I've protected these beautiful birds all winter. I've provided food and shelter but now, despite what I want to happen, nature will take control. Their instincts will take over and they will look for territories of their own. Its incredibly hard to know that they face so many uncertainties as they brave the wider world. As I drive across Fenland and see an owl hunting I will always wonder whether it is "one of mine." When the weather closes in I will think of them hungry and when I see larger birds hunting the dykes and ditches I will think of my much slighter owls coming up against such opposition. But it is not all doom and gloom. I imagine them pairing up with a mate and rearing a family and of them finding a territory as safe and accommodating as our farm. In these times of transition I am truly proud that they have found their wings.

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.