This female is the first bird of 2012 that I have found to lay a second clutch of eggs after successfully fledging young earlier in the year.

I had ringed her chicks in the first week of June and she is now incubating four eggs in the same nestbox.

Chick Development

The original picture was taken on 1 July and the development of the same birds that has taken place to date is self evident.

What's in a name?

In old English dialect Ullard is a name for a young owl. It was, therefore, appropriate that I ringed a pair of owlets there tonight, much to the joy of the famer.

Perseverance

I came across these two emaciated owlets which had died of starvation at the end of June; victims of the torrential rains which had prevented their parents from feeding them.


Last night I revisited the site and was delighted to discover that both adult birds are still on territory and that the female (first picture below) is incubating four new eggs. Their urge to breed has remained strong and hopefully they will have greater success this time.