Sitting in the Visitor Centre at Coombes just a few days ago, I was feeling like a first-time mother, just arrived home with her new-born twins. Gazing anxiously at the fluffy little bundles, watching every movement and fretting, “are they breathing?” or “are they getting enough to eat?”
All of the team here have been affected in the same way – progress reports via text messages have been eagerly sought and sent.
The new family that has been causing such a stir is, as you will have guessed, a barn owl family which has nested for the very first time in one of our owl boxes. Last week we installed cameras and a microphone and we now have two screens and speakers in the Visitor Centre.
Over the past week we’ve been getting to know our new arrivals and now we would like to introduce you to them and to some of the other night-time inhabitants of Coombes Valley. It is a real privilege to get such a close view of the lives of these beautiful creatures. We have already gained understanding and insight and we would love to share this with you.
You can come and see live footage every day but Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays will be extra special days that you should not miss. On those days we will be offering additional activities and exploring the fascinating lives of our night-loving neighbours. Moth trapping and owl pellet dissection, with three evening guided walks with bat detector boxes thrown in – it’s going to be fun! For more details follow the link to our What's On page http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-318441.
We look forward to seeing you soon and don’t forget to keep an eye on the blog for more progress reports.