Barn Owl Cam
The CHOG-sponsored Barn Owl camera, managed by Paul Turton and Jackie Smith, streams live during the breeding season.
The live stream is viewable below, along with some more information and images.
The camera and live feed are sponsored by CHOG. If you would like to help with the funding, as well as for other local conservation projects, please do consider joining…
Breeding season in general
The adult female regularly checking the nest box throughout the winter – Paul Turton
Egg-laying, incubation and hatching
Barn owls usually lay eggs in April, however this can be delayed if the weather conditions are bad. Laying four to seven eggs is normal, but it can be between three and eleven. Incubation of the eggs begins from the moment they are laid and will incubate for approximately thirty-two days, at which point, if everything has gone to plan, the first egg of the clutch will hatch. The remaining eggs should follow in 2-3 days intervals, similar to the intervals they were laid.
Three recently laid eggs – Jackie Smith
Three eggs and one owlet – Paul Turton
Owlets two to three weeks old – Paul Turton
Fledging
At some point between 50-60 days after hatching, the young owls will leave the nest. They will still need to rely on their parents to provide food for a while longer, however, until they are more able to hunt on their own.
Owlets at approximately ten weeks old – Paul Turton
Diet
An owl pellet taken apart carefully will tell you everything about the type of prey the bird has been feeding on. The main diet for the Barn Owl is the Short-tailed Vole; other rodents include shrews, Wood Mice and young rats.
Prey being delivered – Paul Turton
A pellet found below the nest box – Paul Turton
The above pellet dissected – Paul Turton
A Kestrel in box
Over a period of a few days in November 2022 we had a kestrel sheltering in the barn owl nest box. There was a quiet, slightly uneasy calm about it, each watching the others moves. No aggression was seen at all, the kestrel stayed under the camera, and the owls at the other end. All were happy enough to shelter somewhere dry and relatively warm as the kestrel didn’t possess any risk to the owls.
A Kestrel in the box with the two Barn Owls – Paul Turton
A gallery of photographs relating to the owls can be found below.
Archives
View the full archive of photographs, which now contains over 250 species.
Here is the full archive of features that have previously appeared on the CHOG website.
CHOG Archives
View the full archive of photographs, which now contains over 250 species.
Here is the full archive of features that have previously appeared on the CHOG website.