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!
Bit of preening and making themselves beautiful and seemingly snacking on floor crumbs (nice!) Older one looking very mature especially when near the camera.
All as usual this time of day - both fast asleep!
The box is empty and it's eerily quiet (except for the rain belting down on the roof).
Correction: The deafening dual hissing noise has returned!
No computer last night but just switched on and see it's 'business as usual'!
Just for you Pudweena!
The smaller one at the front was particularly shy and quickly hopped back inside as soon as it realised it was being watched so I didn't hang around for long.
This was taken at 18:26 and it was still sunny outside.
Brilliant picture Dom - is that both the young - or one young an adult?
Well I can't be sure, but both eventually hopped back inside and I haven't seen a parent inside the nestbox for many weeks. If it was one of the parents I would have expected the 2nd juvenile to be making a lot of noise and it wasn't. So I think both juveniles here.
Wonderful, thanks Dom, this has made my day, no computer last night and this photo as soon as I switch on - can't get any better today! They look so much older in their 'colours' as opposed to under the infra-red light too.
Thank you so much for that Dom - when you see them in the box they look smaller and almost colourless although you can see the markings - thanks for the wonderful photos.
Yes - they do look very mature in the light of day!