The owl files – Chapter 3: Out . . . and about!

11 September 2022

Out .  .  . and about!

While making coffee early this morning, I looked out the kitchen window to check on the male. No sign in his usual spot in the Evergreen Oak – so up onto the roof and up the ladder to check the nest box. Empty! Looking around I could see the female in the Elm tree next to the Air Quality Monitoring Station and, when I went out to check, I found the whole family in the tree.

It might have taken a while for the second chick to leave the nest – but it least it seems to be flying well enough to reach a perch high in the tree. Before the first chick ended down on the lower roof, the two siblings were inseparable and usually snuggled together – either in the nest, or on the roof underneath it. It will be interesting to see if they regain that closeness in the coming days.

By Geoff Lockwood