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!
Well I am sitting here watching an empty box so I won't know if the picture is frozen now as the sound often continues anyway!
Thought I would click on it anyway and he's back! Yes, nice to hear the hissing back again.
Must be hard to drop back into that smelly, empty little box after discovering a whole new world of dining possibilities beyond that hole.
Wow - a huge rat (?) received outside the box and dragged inside. It's so big it doesn't know what to do with it!
Seems to be savouring every mouthful of the latest meal - rat? looks very large and very gruesome as he's pulling it apart in front of the camera.
Think I am crossing my messages just after you Dom - missed him dragging it in as I have to constantly click on the picture. Much too large a meal to be downed in one.
Think he's going to make it last all night - or is it another one?
Seems to have discarded the rat but is hissing constantly - missing company?
Oh p'raps a bit peckish! Wonder if the other has gone too now or will pop back in for the night.
If that's the same rat I see it's hardly made a dent in it! I hear a 2nd source of screeching outside the box now.