Now the kestrels have fledged you can now watch our three barn owl chicks live via http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/a/arne/webcam.aspx.
They aren't very active during the day but watch during the evening as the parents bring them voles and mice that they catch on the heath and farmland close to their nest.
Feel free to use the forum to post any observations or questions and we will do are best to answer them!
Barn owl chicks take atleast 55 days to fledge which is a big difference to the kestrel chicks which fledged after 35 days. The oldest chick is about 50 days old and the youngest is about 40 days old so there is still abit of time before they all fledge. Female barn owls don't delay incubation of their eggs unlike the kestrels so there is always a big difference in chick size with the oldest being the most dominant and likely to eat its smaller siblings. It sounds gruesome but it is a survival mechanism and will see the older chicks through periods when food is scarce and often ensures that atleast one chick will always fledge. In the case of this nest they all look healthy and there has been plenty of food so fingers crossed for the smallest one.
Enjoy watching and listen out for the extremely scary noises they make!
only one in the box this a.m. reckon it's on it's own now!!!!
Can hear one owl hissing outside the empty box. Was very surprised to learn from Rob today that they are most probably feeding themselves by now so even more surprised they are still here. So could they possibly hang around for a long time then? I assumed once they hunted for themselves they would be off to pastures new.
There's such a wealth of food on their doorstep maybe there's no need to move on.
One owl was sleeping peacefully in the box, next time I looked very noisy and other had jumped back in and they were both fighting, quite unpleasant to each other but then all calmed down.
Back to one preening but we now know both still around!
Back to 2 and seemingly all friendly - kids! - am wondering about my September hols now.....?!
test, by Mr Pudweena
This is the current view from the box
I see they've mastered the art of balancing on one leg!
Nicely screengrabbed Mr Pudweena.
test 2
test
Oh what a funny little pair they are and they obviously love Arne.