09/09/2026
The worst has happened. The little owl was growing so well, but during the early hours of Monday morning he was attacked in his box.
Both his parents were out and he was being quite vocal calling for food. Perhaps this caught the attention of another Barn Owl. It’s only a guess that the visitor wasn’t one of his parents, but it seems unlikely that a parent owl would have done this.
It wasn’t a prolonged attack, but it was certainly hostile. We thought he’d been killed. But miraculously the attacker left after about 30 minutes and the little one regained his strength sometime later.
But there was worse to come. Quite why, we will never know, but he tried and tried for a long time to escape the box, and sadly, he eventually managed it.
Much too young to be able to fly, it was certain death after his attack.
The last owlet is sadly no more, and it seems unlikely the parents will lay eggs again at this time in the season.
The adults returned to the box an hour or so later, they’d been out all night, perhaps the change in weather has hindered their hunting and food is less plentiful. They are roosting in the box now and we will keep you posted if anything changes.
I’ve not posted videos but some stills are below. 😢
