Barn Owl Chicks Fledge

The five barn owl chicks I have been studying have now all fledged.

I have watched these chicks via nest cams from the moment the first egg was laid and it is great to see them now fending for themselves.

All five chicks have survived, mainly due to the fact that throughout the breeding season I put extra food out for the parent birds. Barn owls here on the Yorkshire Wolds didn't breed very well, if at all, last year so I'm hoping these five will go on to repopulate this area.

The fledglings are now feeding from a landing post I put out for them just 12 metres from my hide. Sometimes they all arrive at the feeding post together and jostle for position!

Their regular appearances here gives me the opportunity to photograph them often. Above is a shot of the adult female posing for my GoPro video camera.

You can watch the footage here:



I use the photographs that I take throughout the year as studies for my paintings. Below is a painting of the female hunting earlier this year.

Last week I cleaned out the nest box, which was very smelly, and relined it with wood chips. The male and female (pictured below) both went in shortly afterwards.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a second brood!

Making a living out of the countryside

FARMING has undergone tremendous change over the years. As a farmer’s son, I can remember having family picnic lunches during harvest. Can't imagine the combine harvesters stopping now.

And whilst the bigger farms have become increasingly high tech, the smaller ones have diversified to such an extent that you can hardly recognise some of the products that comes out of the countryside these days.

Enterprising business men and women have branched out into everything from fresh cut flowers to tailor made holidays in order to continue to make a living in the countryside. It's heartening to see how all sorts of people have adapted to the changes in such positive ways. I dedicated last week's column in the Gazette&Herald to the subject.  

Tomorrow I have invited 20 food producers from the Yorkshire Wolds to show their wares at a farmers' market here in the gallery.

We've got a former Oxford don who now produces meat, a bio-chemist who has turned her hand at cheese-making and a former fashion designer who now produces rapeseed oil.

These modern farmers are making such a success out of making a living in the countryside their product is beginning to win awards.

Come along and stock up for all your summer picnics. We will be open from 10am-4.30pm.