The blurry photo below shows the first of our barn owl bairns to venture out of the box last week. This was perhaps his or her first sighting of a human being, myself, at 10pm. I had crept around the corner of the barn as I had seen on the the security camera footage that an owlet was out of the box.
What a difference a few weeks makes. Now there are four of the barn owlets gathering on top of the box. This was at 5pm, too early for any food deliveries but it was a warm afternoon and they were out getting some air. They were popping in and out of the box. It was a much better light for photographing them too!
Meanwhile the youngest chick hasn’t got his or her flight feathers developed enough yet. It won’t be too long though. I was worried it wasn’t getting enough food, it’s certainly last in the pecking order. However one of its siblings passed a vole to it the other night, so it is being fed.
And when I looked through the camera footage last night I saw three ready meals had been dropped off in the box. This must be a bumper year for vole and mice numbers.
Here is a photo of one of the owlets spreading its wings to get out of the box.
There’s much more room to stretch and exercise their wings outside.
It’s amazing to see their long, sharp talons. The owlet at the front of these photos still has quite a lot of fluffy downy feathers on its front.
I’m hoping that in another week all “the famous five” will be sitting together for a photo. However, by then the eldest of the bunch will perhaps be perched out in different places around the barn. What a success this lockdown barn owl box has been!
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 