Abundance

 I think May has to be my favourite month. Everything is so lush and abundant. Here in the Fens we've had a ridiculously dry spring with only about   five mm of rain in April and little more in May. The ground is parched and cracked yet somehow the crops, the field edges and hedgerows are teeming with life. I've enjoyed watching the mining bees by the paddock that seem to grow in numbers each year and welcomed the yellow wagtails who always arrive in late spring to nest at the end of the grass field but, of course, I am watching intently for barn owl activity.

                                                   Male owl from east nest box.

I have been very apprehensive. Last year, according to the Barn Owl Trust who collate findings, was the worst year for barn owls in a decade and one of the reasons cited was the dry weather. It impacted vole numbers which in turn impacted the owl's confidence to lay. This fact, coupled with the extremely quiet winter I experienced meant I was worried about the upcoming nesting season. 

                                                       Preparing the owl boxes.

It soon became apparent that the very keen dark female and her mate have taken east nest box. I watched the male feeding his mate whilst she sat on eggs and have been blessed to see them flying in for food with more and more urgency as their family grow. I still throw chicks up onto the combine shed and this pair readily fly in with me super close before circling the dutch barn as I leave. I can then watch them from the gate as they tag team the food flying in relay up and into the box. It won't be long before I have a little glimpse of the youngsters as they venture onto the porch of the nest box and I play guessing games as to how many have been reared.

                                                                     Last year's fledglings

These fabulous sightings also remind me that our very old female who will be sixteen this season, is not as evident as other years. I feel sure that this confident pair have pushed her out and in her declining years she will be unable to defend her territory as she may once have been able to. It makes me sad to think of her taking second place when she was always so accommodating of other owls on the farm, but nature is harsh and not always fair. I often see three owls flying in for food and wonder if this year she hasn't been able to secure herself a mate but is still in the periphery of the territory. There is an owl that looks for me from the house roof and I am sure it is her and one night when I walked back through the yard to the house an owl flew with food from the open barns across to the beehive box and didn't return. I do need to take my camera down and try for a photo which will confirm my suspicions but for now I just hope she is safe and well.

Meanwhile the kestrels are doing well. They wait, just as daddy kestrel used to, on the telegraph pole by the farm gate and fly through to the dutch barn for the food that I leave each morning. The male takes his away but the female eats greedily on the platform eyeing me suspiciously as she tears into the food. If I stand behind the combine I can just see into the nest box and I counted at least three little grey bundles in there this week. They normally fledge mid to late June and I am looking forward to their raucous antics.

                                                          Three grey bundles

One mystery has recently been solved for me. I leave some food on the shed in the farm gateway and each evening without fail, at least one chick has been taken as I leave the farm. Initially I thought I had counted wrong but I realised that I couldn't be wrong every evening. As the nights became lighter and I watched more closely I noticed that as soon as my back was turned the little owls were flying in and taking the chicks from this roof before flying round by the trees back to their nest box on the dutch barn. I've since watched as they polish off the offerings from this area whilst the barn owls ferry food away in the opposite direction. I've no idea how many owlets these endearing little characters have but they are very evident both day and night and causing mayhem among the smaller birds who are none too happy to see them perched in the trees and barns so close to their nests. I will know when these youngsters fledge, as the little owls berate anyone who goes too close to their fledglings that you can play a game of hot or cold to pinpoint their whereabouts.

                                                       I love their expressions

So May has gifted me some wonderful views of the owls and kestrels on the farm and I am looking forward to seeing what June brings as the youngsters join the mayhem on these long, sunny evenings.