Every breath you take ......Owl be watching you!

(courtesy of The Police)

Sorry for the title - I can hear the groans from here! 

Many of our visitors have been completely enthralled by our family of barn owls.  You may recall, a couple of posts back, the 3 chicks had their leg rings put on and were put back in the nesting box.  Well less than a week later, the 2 larger of the chicks decided it was time to leave home.  Things had got cramped in the box as the youngsters practised their wing stretching.  They had also tried climbing out the opening too so I wasn't too surprised when I arrived one morning to find 2 of them had left home - leaving behind the smallest of our 3 chicks.  The eggs hatch alternate days so there can be quite  a size difference between the first hatched chick and the last one.  So I was relieved to see the smallest one had decided against joining his older siblings.  The youngest still had a fair amount of down and its feathers still had some growing to do.

Following the departure of the 2 young chicks, we continued to see voles appear in the nest box so knew Mum and Dad were providing for the small one but of course, had no idea how the 2 fledglings were doing.  Their fledging also coincided with a bout of heavy rain and strong winds.  On a couple of occasions, Dave and I between us were able to spot the youngsters hidden in the undergrowth.  With a long spell of heavy rain and strong winds, we started to worry about our 2 youngsters.  We hadnt spotted them and were not sure whether Mum and Dad were still bringing in voles for them.

On Monday, the weather cleared and it looked as if we were in for a clearish evening.  So Dave, his daughter and I decided to do an owl watch from the hide.  We settled into the hide just before dusk and it wasnt long before things started to happen.  Four red deer hinds came out of the woods, crossed the track and stopped to graze in front of the hide in the field that leads down to the loch.  We just froze, knowing that the slightest movement would frighten them off.  We scoured the surrounding fields as the light quickly disappeared.  Suddenly,  a flash of white flew across the front of the hide.  It was so hard not to squeal with excitement - but to keep focussed and follow where it went.  We focused on the trees and spotted a second owl, sat on a branch.  We had the door of the hide open so we could hear any calls.  As those of you who have been to the hide will know, its a wonderful state of the art structure, but being made of wood, is prone to creak at the slightest movement.  None of us dare move for fear of a creak.  We then saw 2 of the owls head out of the fields - that would be the adults off to hunt for voles.  We had the camera switched on too for the youngest one - the adults had already provided him with a vole for tea so he was quite settled.  We then scoured the trees and spotted our 2 chicks - fantastic! They were sat on 2 branches, one above, one below.  They looked in great condition.  We were delighted to see them doing so well.  As we watched them, we could hear a call, coming from the top of the same tree.  This time a tawny owl.  Fantastic.  Having seen our owl family, doing well, it was time to leave as we crept out of the hide in the darkness, trying to find car keys and closing the car door quietly.  We drove along the track and were saying how pleased we were that the owls had survived the wet and windy weather, when another tawny owl flew out of the trees next to the track on our way out.  Incredible.  How about Mull Owl Watch?

Barn Owl Chick - photo Debby Thorne

Today, like the rest of the UK, we have experienced a mini heatwave - lovely blue skies and sunshine and 20 degrees on the thermometer.  No doubt the adult barn owls will be out hunting tonight for their family - the young one still in the nest box is looking great, starting to lose the down on its head and doing those all important wing stretches.  Not long before he goes too.  It has been an absolute joy watching this family over the summer and I have learned a lot about barn owls - truly beautiful birds.

Some of our visitors have fallen under their spell too and we have received some very generous donations - a big thank you - the money will be used to purchase 2 new wooden owl boxes to replace the plastic barrels that are up at the moment once the owls have finished with them for this year. 

And of course, Skye and Frisa looked stunning against the backdrop of a sapphire blue sky today - their white tails positively shone in the sunshine.

Until next time ......

Debby Thorne

White Tailed Eagle Information Officer, Mull