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!
I've reported the webcam problem to Mark again.
Thanks Dom - now back on with two in the box busy preening.
First look since Saturday, so both still about then, one in the box at the mo and hissing!
Thanks so much Mops for keeping us posted, extremely grateful.
You are most welcome Pudweena. Box empty at 23.05 plenty of hissing outside.
Empty again this morning and quiet outside!!
One sleepyhead in the box. Do wish we could tell if young or adult as interested to read some thoughts in the latest blog.
Empty box but sounds like 2 hissing. Does the hissing not indicate whether young or adult? Certainly doesn't sound like a screech to me.
It is an interesting one - They will all hiss, but it would be interesting to find out if there are any owls roosting in some of the other boxes around. As I said before it is usual for the adults to chase the youngsters away by this time but if there is plenty of food they may hang around a bit longer but this is all a bit of guess work really!!
Have been doing a bit more research and what I have been saying seems ok but for more info about how barn owl chicks are raised check out this link to the Barn Owl Trust www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html. According to the site it could still be possible that these are the youngsters we are looking at!
Many thanks Michael, have read the link thoroughly so I do believe that these are probably the youngsters choosing to use the box still which is not uncommon though probably hunting themselves and full dispersal could still be months away!