Owl Right!!

Because I'm such a rubbish photographer I had the camera on the wrong setting....but as luck would have it it was on video and I caught this....but you'll have to be quick....

Saturday Night's Alright For Fledging

This just in from Mrs H. ....."As I walked up the track in the distance I could see two owls - one bigger than the other. The smaller one was bobbing and weaving; this was the best photo I could get. I then walked along the road to try and get something better. By this time there was only one big owl who screeched at me a couple of times before flying off.

There had been no hissing from the box, but there was when I came back. Perhaps the youngest has fledged and the two I saw was an adult giving the younger one some mouse catching lessons. There's now hissing from the box, it probably wants to make sure it gets some dinner."

All The Owl News That's Fit To Print

Last night was dire....2 inches of rain and it didn't stop from dusk 'til past dawn. Therefore the owls went very hungry as according to the Lammermuir's font of all owl knowledge, known to me as Mrs. H. "Owls don't fly in the wet because they cannot stay airbourne for long so they cannot hunt." At least that's the gist of it. Anyway tonight is much better but the net result is we have hungry owls. This just in from Mrs. H. "I have seen the adult back and forth but it is a very hungry owlet after last night. It still looks quite fluffy when it spreads it's wings. The middle owl is still flying to the box to be fed I have seen him tonight"

So there you have it, all the news that fits from Owl Watch 2008

Owl Watch

Click on the picture to enlarge

Mrs H. is not sure whether this is the oldest one or the middle one!

Sunday Night at the Lammermuir's Owl Watch

I have a lot of pictures of blue sky with small dots in them that are owls on the run....but this is as good as gets as far as this evening's walk in the conifer forest goes. Click on it to see it enlarged

Where's My Dinner?

Adult Owl Delivering A Mouse (Probably)

This just in from Mrs H. who was hanging out of the spare bedroom window to get this shot. "The adults are very busy feeding tonight. Amazing that they are out when the sun is still shining."

Saturday Night Feeding (Stayin' Alive.....)

Short of Mrs. H. donning her camouflage gear once again and lying in wait for the adults to start feeding this may well be the best you're gonna get for today. She did just suggest that if she lay in the undergrowth on her back and made mouse noises then perhaps one of the owls would come and investigate. The fact that she is wearing brown linen trousers and an orange T-shirt might just put them off. Click on the picture for a better (although it's not great) view.

That'll Be Owl Night in the Lammermuir Hills

Having cooked some rather delicious fish in beer batter - although somewhat bizarrely there was no beer - Mrs. H. set off in with her big camera in search of young owls. She has returned with this report. "Well we definitely have three owlets. Having walked up the track I got this photo of one in the box hissing for food. it is either ready to fledge or may have already done so. Further up the track I got the second photo of the other two, the one on the left was hissing for food."

Owl Update...

Having arrived home from Texas about 9.30 a.m. on Saturday my day was mapped out for me....cut the grass was a priority - we had visitors coming on Sunday. It's all good practice for when Mrs. H. gets things to the point when we can open the garden under the 'yellow book' scheme! There was also some writing to be done and so by the time bed beckoned I was ready for it. I'd just dropped off to sleep when suddenly Mrs H. leapt from the marital bed. "There's an owl on the ground we'll have to go and get it put back." I was barely compass. "What do you mean we?" "We, as in you and I darling one." So there I was with a jumper over my jim jams, my Ug boots, a ladder under my arm, following Mrs H up the bank to the tree where the owl box is located. She scurried around and found the owlet under the Laural bush - while I held the ladder steady, she popped it back up on the platform. Mission accomplished.

In answer to one of the earlier comments; the reason we put them back is, according to the Barn Owl Trust, that if they are on the ground and there's still one or more being fed in the nest then the adult owls will not feed the one on the ground. 

Last night it looks like the second of the remaining three was flying around, which leaves just one to go. Bedtime will not be the same, no more Mrs H. announcing, "I can hear them hissing." and "It's OK, they're quiet now they must have had a mouse." I should add that we've now got mouse traps set in the outbuildings and so far have managed to feed them a dead one. I say we, I'm just the assistant in all this....

More on the Owls

News just in from Mrs H who is on owlet patrol, even as I type....

We have two juvenile delinquents! 9.30 p.m. and a commotion outside, two owlets were on the ground - I think one was from last night and another which was older but could not fly. Got the ladder ran over, one headed off into the long grass and the littlest one legged it to the laurel bush. I managed to get it, it was very lively a good sign, back into the box and as I put him in another flew out I don't know if it was a parent or the young one that flies now, I nearly fell off the ladder. It then immediately jumped out again. Ran after him again up the ladder back in the box. Now for the second one, I had to search in the long grass found him he was snapping his beak at me apparently that is another healthy sign he wasn't keen on being caught, up the ladder back in the box and then I legged it!!!!

I think Bill Oddie has people to do this stuff for him I can't imagine him getting up the ladder never mind legging it! This owl sitting is stressful stuff. I will have to do a check under the laurel bush etc tomorrow morning to make sure they didn't go off wandering through the night.

So that looks like three - if they all make it. One flying, one about to fly and the littlest one a couple of weeks to go before it fledges. We know there was at least five, we lost two and we have these three, according to that font of all knowledge - the Barn Owl Trust the average brood size is 3.6. They are the most wonderful creatures to hold, they are incredibly soft and they sometimes play dead although looking at you with those amazing eyes.

Havering On Springwatch - Owl Developments

Yesterday I flew from LA to Austin Texas to do some work at the University of Texas. This morning I got this from Mrs. H.

I got home about 10.30 (obviously out on the town - Ed) and after putting the dogs out I was up stairs when I saw an owlet on the ground; I could tell by the way he was flapping it was not the older baby owl. I could see it try to get back up the tree, so knew it was definitely a younger one. The next thing I saw was the other young owl flying down to it I thought now what! By this time it was 10.45 and getting dark, too late to call anyone for help. It was really windy and I hadn't seen any of the adults and there was a lot of hissing for food. I went over to have a look, didn't get on to the bank before the older one, who was next to the little one, started screeching at me. I backed off, realised there was nothing I could do until morning. Restless night, up at six! I went in search for it, nearly gave up when I found it under the laurel bush. I ran back for the ladders and gloves and caught it no problem. Turned it on his back in my hands (just like the Barn Owl Trust advices) It was beautiful and looked up at me with stunning black eyes, up the ladder owlet back in box. Hopefully it is not too hungry as it would not have got much last night if anything but at least now it has a chance.

Intrepid or what - Bill Oddie beat that....on second thoughts....

Young Owl

Mrs. H. captured our young owl on camera this evening. He'll soon be hunting for himself, she reckons in another week.

Owlet Roosting

According to Mrs H who has just called The Barn Owl Trust, they said. "It will learn there are better places to roost, the main thing at the moment is that he is dry." For some reason she thinks that it is a 'he'. There's still another in the nest, so fingers crossed for that one.

A Definite Fledging

Last evening one of the young owls flew out of the nest box and onto the old seat before flying off - we think into the tree. No pictures I'm afraid as Mrs. H was engrossed in the tennis and I was attempting to keep the wheels of commerce turning. My study looks out onto the tree where the next box is located so I had pole position. I called on Mrs. H and she saw the owl fly into the tree - she was quite overcome. At least I think it was the sight of the owl, it could have been linked to the fact that Nadal won Wimbledon....

Barn Owl Nest Box Design...

Mrs H, who is fast becoming an expert on all things barn owl, is in a state of high dudgeon this morning. Apparently she got the design for our owl box from the Barn Owl Trust and now they are saying that it's been withdrawn because it is not a good design, which is what has been causing the owlets to fall out. According to the Lammermuir Hills leading expert on barn owls, "Seventy five per cent of the deaths of baby owls falling out f the nest is caused by this faulty design." Never fear, she has a cunning plan involving putting up an under-platform and a branch for them to climb back up. This will take pace after they've vacated the nest to avoid any injury from a swooping adult owl.

Havering On Springwatch Update

There's good news and bad news on the baby owl front. Two have died. Both were on the ground having left the nest. Owls have there young at different times so these were the first born. The good news is we still have two left, one is out the nest and the other is still in it. According to the local gamekeeper it seems like they've not had enough food and that's why the older birds have died. Mrs H. picked up the dead owls and says they are both very thin. The picture below is of the bird that virtually fell off the nest platform about an hour ago. Now we're keeping a look out for the adult birds who will hopefully bring some food back pretty soon. As I uploaded the photograph an adult owl arrived back, hopefully with some food.
UPDATE
Mrs. H. read up that if the owlets fall out the nest they're a goner as the parents stop feeding them, which is obviously why it was trying to get back....
The only thing to do was to get the owl back in the box. Owls are known to attack people getting too near their nest so we waited until we were sure that the coast was clear and put a ladder up. Mrs. H got the owlet and I stood guard with a broom ready to beat off any attack. The owlet is back, safe, in the box!

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Havering On Springwatch - One Step Beyond....

Well if Barn Owls are not exciting enough Mrs H. has now managed to capture a Tawny Owl sitting in a tree about 75 feet from the Barn Owl nest box. Does life get any more exciting?

Springwatch - the Final Frontier...

Another breathless email from Mrs H. received as I sit stranded on a train, 'somewhere in England'. A complete power failure is apparently the cause. Anyway, dressed in her camouflage gear she inched forward on her belly through the undergrowth to capture one of the owlets that is obviously on the lookout for his dinner.

Springwatch - The Next Generation

Near pandemonium has broken out in the house. I'm on my way to London and get this news from a breathless Mrs. H. The email was headed YESSSSSSSSS. "Well I got it wrong it is the adults we have seen flying about, which means both are feeding (a bonus) and we have at least two owlets. I saw the white fluff, went and got my camera and got this. Went back for the big zoom but they'd gone inside, I will try again later - I saw at least two."