OWLY (2003) -- The first and only

It all began with this little creature on Bank Holiday Monday, 5 May 2003. Before returning to London we went for a walk in the woods behind Corinne’s parents’ house. It was a beautiful early afternoon, with the sun streaming through the first flush of spring leaves. Walking past a stand of pines something caught my eye. There, on the ground some yards back from the path, tiny, immobile, eyes squeezed shut, was a small silvery gnome. I had never seen anything like it before. There was a look of infinite resignation on its face. Could it be a bear cub? -- It certainly looked like one! Well, it was Owly, and the decision to pick him up had momentous consequences. Read on . . .

TUBBY and TINY TOT (2004). This part's also called "Very Young Owls"

The next year, 2004, Owly’s mother had her brood rather late. She had also chosen another nest in the group of abandoned crows' nests she seems to like, so we didn’t spot her until the chicks were hatched and a few days old. The 25th of May was a warm, sunny day and the mother didn’t mind me setting up on the nearby path to film with a camcorder. The next morning we found both chicks on the ground, badly injured, hypothermic and covered with ants. Tubby and Tiny tot’s sad, short story is told here . . .

SOPHIE (2005)

In 2005 the mother went back to the nest Owly was born in. We’d put up a nestbox the previous November, but she ignored it. Because the nest is high up and close to the path I didn’t see her until quite late, and soon after I had my first glimpse of Sophie, who was then about 15 days old. There may have been another chick, but if there was it must have already fallen out. I sat near the nest one very chilly night recording Sophie’s earliest noises, but a few days later she too was on the ground -- thankfully uninjured. There's a series of pics showing her development over the first hundred days of her life. Go to Sophie's main page here . . .

SITA

Sita's no relation of our owls but lives in a nearby owl sanctuary. The only sense in which she's "ours" is that I helped with her upkeep one year, and in return was allowed to take her out. The fact that there are 32 tawnies in the sanctuary, most brought in as chicks found on the ground locally, is evidence for believing that Tawny Owls have a big problem finding suitable nesting sites round us. Here are some pics of Sita on a day out . . .

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