It's the middle of March. The female Tawny Owl is sat on four
eggs.
For the next 32 days she barely leaves the nest,
keeping a clutch warm, whatever the weather.
[Music]
Her partner Ozzy provides her with food.
[Music]
Soon he's delivering more rats mice and voles than she needs,
so Bonnie stores this surplus in the nest.
[Music] This is known as a food cache,
perhaps they know the eggs are close to hatching.
[Music]
The following day Bonnie stands to reveal a pip in an egg,
[Music] which develops into a large crack
and soon she pulls the shell away. [Music]
When she leaves she reveals her first owlet,
his eyes are closed, it can barely hold its own head up and it huddles into the
eggs to keep warm.
[Music] Later that day
Bonnie stands and shows off a second chick,
I can see it is still wet so it hasn't been out of the egg long.
[Music]
When she leaves I get a great view of these two owlets
and there's the third one pipping its way out.
Three hours later she removes the eggshell
and breaks it up adding to the nest floor.
There must be three chicks under her now, but I don't catch a glimpse yet.
[Music]
Ozzy arrives with the rat
[Music]
when he delivers it, he realizes the
chicks have hatched and is keen to try and see them.
It is a tender moment,
[Music] but he is sent out to hunt
and Bonnie feeds the chicks for the very first time.
[Music]
Clearly spurred on by his newly hatched owlets, Ozzy makes several food
deliveries, which Bonnie stores carefully.
[Music] With four potential owlets to feed she's
going to need all the food she can get. Eventually two days after the third owlet
hatched, Bonnie leaves the nest and there's a fourth chick.
[Music] Bonnie hasn't had this many chicks before.
For the last few years, she's only had two. So I am conscious that there's a lot of mouths
for Bonnie to feed and they're a super brood.
[Music]
[Music] Morning arrives and I get the first
glimpse of her chicks in daylight,
not long after I noticed some jackdaws entering the wood. The flock of jackdaws
is known as a murder, that's for a reason ! This could spell
trouble. These Jackdaws are looking for
somewhere to nest. They are known to fill nests with sticks, regardless of who's inside.
They investigate the entrance
and when they return, the onslaught begins.
[Music] Sticks could injure them, put in these
chicks lives at risk. [Music]
Or prevent Bonnie from brooding properly
and at worst they could bury this new family alive.
[Music]
Thankfully the jackdaws soon leave, perhaps they've got another site
elsewhere.
Bonnie's not pleased with the mess they've made,
but it doesn't stop her attending to her large brood of owlets.
[Music]
After a difficult day Bonnie heads out to the pond to clean
off. [Music]
Four owlets huddle together for warmth,
but the pond isn't far from the nest [Music]
and Bonnie doesn't leave them for long.
[Music]
When the day breaks the Jackdaws are back.
This is a worrying sign the first sticks are dropped.
Bonnie tucks the chicks beneath her for safety.
The jackdaws return every few minutes
Bonnie is looking stressed. [Music]
Now the owlets are bigger Bonnie guards the entrance, showing that this nest is taken
and the jackdaws leave.
She looks relieved she's got enough on her plate with this large brood.
The owl chicks are now a week old and have grown so much they're even able to
sit upright. But their eyes are still shut
[Music] later that night Ozzy enters the nest
without food. It looks like he has come to see the
owlets, but Bonnie quickly sends him away.
[Music]
I think the food cache has run out. [Music]
Ozzy returns with a large rat.
But surprisingly he disappears into the wood behind.
Bonnie needs this food to feed the owlets
and heads straight off after him. [Music]
Thankfully she returns with the rat.
I'm surprised she had to do this, he usually delivers straight into the nest.
Bonnie feeds the hungry chicks straight away.
[Music]
With all four owlets growing fast, there's less room in the nest.
[Music] Bonnie's brooding is more like crowd
surfing.
Now their pin feathers have come through and they start to stretch their wings
[Music] and within a week
their eyes are open.
They're standing up and moving around.
[Music]
[Music] Ozzy delivers some prey
and one of the chicks manages to swallow it whole,
which is so great to see.
But because the owlets are so big I'm concerned this delivery is just not
enough. [Music]
Bonnie starts to hunt now too, but even this is not sufficient.
The chicks are clearly still hungry,
so I'll give this large brood a helping hand. Providing a handful of mice each day,
which they seem to be thankful for.
[Music]
This large brood is taking its toll on Bonnie, the owlets are nearly as big as
her.
She's done an amazing job getting this large brood to this stage. I am hoping that she will have
enough energy to get them through this next week,
when they will be taking their first flights out into the world, beyond the nest
[Music] Next time,
watch as these four owlets get their identification rings and
spend their first days outside of the nest.
[Music].
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