Len Pick Trust Owl Project

The camera has been playing up again so it hasn’t been easy to follow the action in the nest.

We had some heavy rain in mid May and our brood of four chicks are now down to two.

This is typical for barn owls. They often suffer in bad weather when it is difficult for the adults to hunt.

The chicks are now five weeks old and we shall soon be ringing them.

Our eldest chick is already two weeks old.

The fifth egg didn’t hatch but we have four healthy chicks.

Let’s hope the weather continues to be good for the male to keep catching lots of small rodents.

The camera is working again.

At lunchtime there were four chicks and one egg.

Whether this last egg will hatch we don’t know but it’s already a day overdue.

Now the success of the brood will depend on the male’s ability to catch enough prey to feed himself, the chicks and the female, as she won’t leave the chicks to help with the hunting for another two weeks.

There is over a week’s difference in age between the youngest and eldest chick. Barn owls use this hatching strategy so they can rear at least some of the brood if the weather turns bad during the nights to come.

When the fourth chick was due to hatch last Thursday, the camera stopped relaying pictures.

By now all five eggs should have hatched but there is no way of knowing for sure.

If the picture doesn’t return we won’t be able to do anything until they are ringed by our licensed ringers in June.

We will publish an updated blog then.

At 9.22am today the third chick appeared.

The male is being a good father and bringing in lots of prey for the female to feed the chicks and herself.

Two young rats can be seen at the back of the nest.

The fourth egg is due to hatch on Thursday afternoon.

Soon after midnight our female barn owl lifted off her eggs to reveal a second chick.

This was only 48 hours after the first. Barn owls usually hatch at 56 hour intervals, but it’s not an exact science.

The third egg is due to hatch on Tuesday lunchtime.

At half past midnight the first barn owl chick of this year’s clutch of five eggs hatched out.

Mother and baby are doing well!

The eggs should hatch at approximately two and a half day intervals so we can expect the next baby owl on Sunday lunchtime.

At noon today the barn owls laid their fifth egg.

Large clutches are not unknown.

If we are to have a sixth egg it should be laid around midnight on Saturday.

Last night, just before 11pm, the fourth egg was laid.

Will there be a fifth this year?

If so it is due on Thursday morning.

At 0926 today our female laid her third egg.

If there is to be a fourth it should arrive sometime on Monday night.

It would now seem the first egg was laid last Monday morning.