30 July 2024 : Barn Owls flying and chicks feldging at sunset in West Cumbria
30 July 2024 : It wasa sunny evening for a change so I went to check on the Barn Owl nest to see if it had survived the Stoat attack last night and to see if any of them had fledged.
The nest was active when i arrived with three chicks in it and the mother close by, the adult soon left hunting above the cliffs and quickly caught one, and then another vole and returned them to the nest for the chicks. It then left on another hunting trip but this time crossed over the lake to the other side of the quarry, this was my cue to change locations , so i climbed to the top of the bank hoping that it would hunt on my level. Luck was on my side and the Owl flew slowly past me, on to the grass bank where it caucght another volw and headed back to the nest.
In the mean time the larger of the three young chicks had managed rather ungracefully to climb out of the nest, there was a lot of flapping of wings, but it deinatly didnt fly out ! it scramble around the cliff face for a while before settling just above the original nest. The mother had by this time taken her last vole into a crack in the rock and didnt look like it was going to share it, or indeed fly again, so as the sun was going downn I called in a night and left. It will be interesting to see on my next trip if the fledged chick is still about, watch this space !
