In just over three weeks there have been dramatic changes in the barn owl box. On 5th May the first chick hatched out of its egg. The parents looked rather astounded!
Every second day after that another chick hatched out. The dad did a great job of delivering voles onto the box and the mum had a busy job tearing up bits of vole to feed to her offspring.
A week later there were 4 chicks, you can see their varying sizes. Would the last egg hatch?
Yes, the last egg hatched. Surely they couldn’t all survive though, even with a plentiful supply of food? I watched carefully to see what would happen. Here the mum has left the box to stretch her wings and you can see a clump of fluffy owlets huddling together for warmth.
Here are all five.
Sadly, but not unexpectedly the youngest chicks struggled to survive, their older siblings getting bigger and stronger, able to get to the food much quicker than them. Last weekend, two weeks after the first chick hatched the youngest died. Then a few days later the fourth one perished. We were down to three. I named them Ace for the first born, then Duey, then Lucky as it was lucky still to be hanging on.
Despite Mum’s best efforts to feed it, Lucky lost weight and got frailer and frailer. It also died. The mum stood over it for a good wee while, realising it was dead. She then ate it! Nature can seem gruesome as well as wonderful at times.
Meanwhile Ace and Duey are thriving. Here Ace is giving his or her long leg a good stretch. Both owlets remind me of Wombles. In a few weeks time they will be more recognisable as barn owls. It has been amazing to get an insight into their world.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 