Brownsea Island Lagoon & Barn Owl Webcam,

[Night Owl.]

Brownsea Island Webcam

[davebutterflyman]

All four chicks under a wing this morning. No sign of any new hatchlings but the last remaining eggs have gone, consumed by the adults or chicks i would presume.

[davebutterflyman]

There is a fifth chick apparently! it is unlikely it will survive though hatching so much longer after it's siblings.

[davebutterflyman]

The larger of the chicks can be seen this morning. Worrying news however is that the female has not been seen for nearly eleven hours now and that is a long time to leave young birds at this stage.

[davebutterflyman]

Stil no sign of the female and you have to fear the worst. The male has been bringing in food but just dropping it in front of the chicks so this whole scenario only has one outcome really....very sad.

[davebutterflyman]

It has all come to an abrupt end but at least the owlets have been saved.

Dorset Wildlife Trust:


An update on the owlets. At 2.30pm yesterday the three owlets were transferred to a basket and brought down from their nestbox to our Conservation Centre. The two larger owlets were in good condition and had obviously been feeding on the prey left in the box, the smaller one was a bit dirty and hungry. However, he (we’re saying ‘he’ but we don’t know the sex of any of the owlets yet) was offered food straightaway and took it willingly – which was a great sign. Our bird of prey expert then took them away, and they will be fed and looked after (with as little contact with humans as possible) until they can hopefully be brought back to Lorton Meadows to fledge. Many thanks to all the experts and DWT staff involved in the rescue yesterday. Look out for photos and a video of the smallest owlet receiving his first feed on our Facebook page tomorrow (Saturday) morning at www.facebook.com/dorsetwildlife/ and we hope to give you regular updates on their progress. With regards to the female, Brenda, we think she may have been preyed upon by another bird of prey while she was hunting for food (from the signs and remains that were found) possibly peregrine or buzzard, but we won’t ever know for sure. The male, Bob, wasn’t roosting near the nestbox yesterday – but there’s a chance he won’t be far away. If we see him we’ll let you know! ~ Jane

[AnnB]

Such sad news about the female. How lucky that the box had a webcam and DWT staff were able to retrieve the chicks before it was too late. I guess it's one of those tricky situations where you have to decide whether or not to interfere with nature.

[davebutterflyman]

You're right Ann, it is a difficult situation to deal with but i think on this occasion the DWT staff got it spot on.