The other afternoon I received a call from one of our friends with whom we had helped make and erect a barn owl box. Last year two barn owls fledged from it. This year we had heard sounds from the box but were not sure if there were chicks within or not. Our friend told us he had found a chick sitting on the ground below the box. I googled what to do in such a situation and the advice was to put the chick back into the box as soon as possible, as a chick left on the ground might be ignored by parents and left to die. So we zoomed along to help and there was our friend holding the not so wee chick in his hand.
It must be near fledging, perhaps about 8 weeks old. It still had some of its fluffy white down on it. I have never seen any creature so exquisitely beautiful. I was handed it while a ladder was fetched to take it back up to its box. What a privilege to feel the soft downy feathers, see the amazing claws close up and gaze into eyes like deep dark pools.
The owlet was placed back into the box and we’ll be keeping an eye out to make sure it’s not on the ground in the middle of the day again. Although I’m sure it must be nearly ready to fledge, the books say the young do so at about 9 weeks old. We’ll keep an eye on the CCTV footage at nights too.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 