The Great Outdoors WILDLIFE IN THE UK – LITTLE OWLS PART 2 – THE OWLETS GREG COYNE, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER
I recently heard about a couple of little owls that could be viewed from a hide quite local to me and detailed this in my last editorial. I had a fantastic session as the adult little owls flew back and forth to the hole in the oak tree where they were feeding young. How many young, I had no idea. In fact I really didn’t know how close they were to fledging and “branching” or exploring their home in this age old oak tree. I spoke to the farmer who gave me some rough dates when all the activity started so I took a guess and booked some future dates when I hoped that the owlets would be out and active. I returned on the 5th June as I had been informed that a baby owlet had been seen perched out side the nest hole and possibly one other had been seen up in the branches. I was filled with anticipation. I had only been in the hide for 30 minutes when I saw a small face appear at the entrance to the hole. During my previous visits, the adult had been collecting food and taking it straight down the hole into the tree so this was exciting: My first sighting of a fluffy grey owlet. As the owlet moved a little further out of the hollow and on to a small ledge, I saw another face
