Fledged Barn Owls

Once a bird has fledged the nest it is almost impossible to catch up with in the wild and there is little chance of ever filming it being fed by the adults. This difficulty is greatly enhanced with raptors whose young are continually on the move and wary subjects.

An opportunity arose in August to go for some more challenging photos of young Barn Owls after they had left the nest, when my regular pair had a second brood of five young. I noticed that each evening when the young left the barn they would alight on a dry-stone wall nearby and were sometimes fed on this wall by the male. This is the photo I wanted so I placed my hide opposite the wall and in the next four weeks spent twenty one nights hoping for an opportunity to film the food pass. There were many occasions in the pitch black when I could not see whether the young were looking at me or away from me but I persevered and finally achieved the shots I was after. When you look at the gallery the adult male owl is the bird with the darker facial disk. Click here The prey consisted of voles, rats and mice. I hope you enjoy the group shots of what was a remarkable session in perfect conditions.