Today was so hot that good photos were hard to take with the heat haze, however, I did try ! The Swallows were feeding on the pond, the Oyster Catchers were calling and the Mallard Ducklings were playing on the pond.
As the heat subsided I headed up to the Barn Owls to see if the lone male was still perched on wall, only this time he was out hunting. A long way away and into the sun but he was quartering the top of the cliffs, and went down and caught a vole. Only he didn’t eat it, he carried it back to the nest they used last year and waited.
Then a female emerged from deep in another crack in the rocks, flew to him and took the vole of him, perched nearby and ate it, then immediately went back into the crack. He flew off and caught another vole and ate it on the spot before perching on the rock face and started watching the hole the female went into.
This can only mean one thing, the female is sat on eggs and he is hunting for her! fantastic news, hopefully soon we will see the eggs hatch and then both birds will be out hunting to feed the young. So happy that there is another nest here this year, and now I get to watch the soap opera unfold ! check back soon I will be keeping an eye on this nest for the next month or so.
Click the small images to see the larger, they are not the best photos being so far away and cropped but they do tell the story.
