(C) Dorset Wildlife Trust Lorton Meadows Barn Owls combined with (C) Len Pick Trust Barn Owl Project 2020 & 2021

Kate has a couple of pics to start us off!  Thanks for your pics Kate!

Still having a quiet cuddle ... just remembered bonus with this webcam is sound!

  • Fourth due today,BUTTT you tell meCHOL:):)

  • Maybe this tells a story....

    10.50 Mum feeding Dad really wants to get involved..Think Egg still unhatched and nothing on info,sooooo

    is that glimpse of egg

  • The fourth egg hasn’t hatched

    by lenpicktrust

    The fourth egg was due to hatch yesterday. By today it was clear the egg was not viable. This can be for many reasons and is quite common in all bird species. The great news is we have three healthy chicks but with a long road to maturity ahead of them.

    They will be in the nest for another two months and the main factor in their continuing success will be the provision of mice and voles by the parents.

    The male will do all the hunting for the first three weeks after which the female will also hunt as the chicks get bigger and need more food.

    If we get windy, wet weather then the brood size may deplete which is  very natural in barn owls.

    Let's hope for the good weather to continue.

  • Surprise good news ...
    ***
    Never say never!!!
    by lenpicktrust
    In the previous blog we had made an assumption the fourth egg would not hatch as the chick was due on Saturday morning.
    To our amazement the fourth chick was born at 11.45am on Sunday.
    This is 76 hours after the third was born, most unusual in the realms of our knowledge of barn owl breeding.
    We are learning so much from wildlife cameras and the Len Pick Trust live feed has really added to this knowledge.
    The male is bringing lots of prey to the nest and the weather is fairly settled. However, the difference in age between the eldest and youngest chick is nearly seven days so we shall only get all four chicks to maturity if the weather stays kind to our owl family during the next two months.
  • Seems as if youngest one has perished ...

    ***One of the chicks has died
    by lenpicktrust
    Sadly we have lost a chick, probably our youngest, which was born last Sunday. At 8am all four babies were feeding well. By mid morning one was lifeless in the nest. The screenshot shows the male picking up the dead chick and passing it to the female who lays it back down with its siblings. It is not possible to know what caused its death. There was a surfeit of prey in the nest chamber thanks to the excellent hunting skills of the male, so it is unlikely to have starved, although sometimes the tiniest chick can struggle to get its fair share.
    Regular viewers will remember the traumatic events of last September and October when our original six chicks became two at fledging. However, the circumstances were totally different then. The weather was atrocious and hunting was almost impossible. This week we have had just over an inch of rain but there have been plenty of opportunities for hunting in between the showers.***
  • Thanks, Wendy, for keeping us notified. It is a shame about the youngest chick but the other 3 will have an even better chance now, especially if the weather is kind and allows the male to go on hunting at regular intervals.
  • Good news from Len Pick today ...
    ***The eldest chick is already two weeks old
    by lenpicktrust
    Our three remaining chicks are growing fast. The weather is perfect for hunting and the male has been busy bringing in prey, mainly field mice. Their main source of food is the field vole but their numbers rise and fall on a three year cycle and this year they are at their lowest point. So hardly any voles have been seen in the nest chamber.
    The screen shot shows a very sleepy family. The hot weather means the female doesn't have to brood the chicks very often. The chicks are born blind but are now opening their eyes. From mid week the hot and humid weather will be uncomfortable for our family but they will cope with it.***
  • Latest

    The picture quality is poor!

    June 25, 2020lenpicktrust

    Unfortunately, the quality of the picture has deteriorated somewhat over the past two weeks. This is due to a combination of spider webs fogging the camera and the recent generally dry conditions producing dust in the box. Until the chicks are a bit older we can’t enter the nest chamber to clean the lens but in about two weeks time our licensed ringers will be ringing the chicks and checking the ring numbers on the adult owls and at the same time they will clean the camera lens.

    We hope this temporary poor picture won’t affect your enjoyment of our owl family.

  • More sad news ...
    ***We have lost another chick
    by lenpicktrust
    Sadly another chick died at lunchtime today. We now have just two chicks remaining.
    Our licensed ringers are hoping to ring them on Friday. At the same time they will clean the camera lens which is covered in cobwebs and dust and degrading the pict***