Barn Owl Update.
They are settling in!
The beauties who have made the Outback their home have settled in nicely to their second residency with east facing views and new water feature for a bath when needed!
They have 21 acres which is full of field voles for their hunting pleasure and we are managing the grass land for them to enable the voles to thrive and thus our Barn Owls.
The Barn Owl enjoys its own ‘home range’, they are not territorial and are happy to share hunting grounds as long as food is plentiful. They move roosting sites regularly until they settle down to breed; both of our boxes are recording visitors at the moment. When they do they pair up they pair for life.
And………happily our owl appears to be TWO now! We are just trying to verify this at the moment, We are hoping for Owlets this year!
Parenting is shared with the male bringing food initially which is torn up by the female and fed to the chicks. Sensibly they use a second roosting site so each can get a good days kip. Post chick raising they also have some ‘me’ time, separating off again. If only humans were that sensible!
As and when we have some exciting arrivals they will be ringed by a licenced handler. In the meantime we are ensuring that the Outback remains prime hunting ground and has perches so they can sit and monitor the ground and not expend too much energy as they hunt. Their ‘floppity’ flight and hunting dive is a joy to watch in the early morning and we allready have some stunning photos.