Getting here
Owl Update 14/02/2025
On the afternoon of Thursday Millie flew into the nesting box in broad daylight where she stayed until it went dark. This was an unusual thing for her to do as over the past few weeks she would only visit the site under darkness.
She was seen for hours in a settled position, cosy and warm. Before the sun came up she left to stretch her wings and hopefully catch some early breakfast leaving a white shiny egg in the hollow she had scraped out.
There is now a second and third egg and Millie can now be seen incubating them, leaving occasionally, but hopefully not for too long to allow the eggs to go cold for very long.
During the night Bill can be seen bringing her supper which he will have to do for around 30 days when the eggs should begin hatching.This is generally a little longer than other bird species and ensures that the baby owls are relatively well developed when they hatch.
Hopefully in early March we should see the signs of some activity as the owlets begin breaking out of their shells to meet Mum and Dad !
Owl Update 30/01/2025
Millie and Bill are back with a new little egg!
Millie had be seen in the nest box for periods of 15 or 20 minutes calling to her mate and encouraging him to bring her items of food, cementing their relationship and proving that he will be a good provider for her and her babies.
On one occasion Bill and Millie were seen in broad daylight in a Mexican stand-off with a pair of grey squirrels who quite fancied building a drey in the same box! Whilst squirrels would not be considered fair game on Millie and Bill's menu, tawny owls are indeed formidable predators. The squirrels quickly decided that perhaps this was not the brightest idea and moved on to see what other accommodation may be on the market in the Bury area!
It is hoped that over the coming weeks Millie and Bill will lay a clutch of eggs and successfully raise their owlets to create a new generation of tawny owls.
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