When tawny owl Bonnie laid four eggs, it was a bumper clutch for tawnys in this area. Watch as she and her owl partner Ozzy made preperations for their big broodtobe.

Watch Bonnie & Ozzy interact live on my nest cam:    • Live From Ash Wood | Robert E Fuller   and follow their story in this playlist:    • Tawny Owls  Bonnie & Ozzy | Wild Liv...  

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ABOUT THIS FILM
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Finding a nest

The story begins in winter as the pair inspect several possible nest sites. The search is extensive and ranges across Ash Wood, but it's not long before they select their favourites: Ash Tree, where they nested the year before, and Ash Hollow.

Competition

Ash Hollow is also favoured by resident kestrel pair Apollo and Athena. Watch Ozzy chase Apollo from the site. But the tawny pair's interest wanes and the kestrels quickly return to stake their claim.

Location, location

Ash tree becomes their only option, but it's also got the best locaton. A short distance from my pond where rats feed at night it has everything they need.

Spring preparations

As spring arrives the pair spend more time at Ash Tree, taking turns to guard the entrance and even making home renovations. Watch Bonnie shred dead bark off the walls and scrape out dints in the floor to lay her eggs into.

Ozzy brings food

Meanwhile Ozzy makes sure Bonnie is well fed and Bonnie gives the nest a final tidy before the first egg is laid.

Eggs

Tawny owls lay their eggs two to three days apart and exactly two days later Bonnie reveals a second egg. Tawny owls are known for sitting tight on their eggs, so glimpses are rare, but at night time, when Bonnie leaves to stretch her wings we get a glimpse.

Incubation

Until the third tawny owl egg is laid, Bonnie can leave the eggs for up to six hours. But after this third egg she begins to incubate and only leaves the eggs for very short spells. It's only when she moves aside that we spot a fourth egg.

Bumper clutch

This is a large clutch size for tawny owls here. I usually only see 23 eggs and have only seen this many a few times before here. But whilst four is a great number, it will be twice as many young for Bonnie & Ozzie to care for compared to last year’s brood and its going to be a tight squeeze in this nest!

Chicks

Bonnie will sit tightly on these eggs for just over a month now, keeping the embryos inside the eggs warm enough to develop into a healthy chicks. I can’t wait to see their first moments

Next time

Catch the first glimpses of these tawny owl chicks and see what happens when jackdaws attempt to bury this new family alive. Subscribe to my channel to be notified when the next episode in this story is out.

ABOUT ME
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.

You may like to purchase my artwork which you can find on my website: https://www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the wonderful characters you watch here!

You can also follow me on these platforms:
Website: https://www.robertefuller.com
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CHAPTERS
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00:00 Intro
00:11 Tawny owls prospecting nests
01:22 Seeing off kestrels
01:52 Ash tree nest
02:15 Courtship
03:25 Bonnie's first day in nest
03:52 Brood patch
04:12 Ozzy provides food
05:06 First egg
05:36 Second egg
06:39 Third egg
06:57 Fourth egg
07:37 Four is a lot of eggs!
08:05 Next time...

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© Robert E Fuller

Copyright Disclaimer: Please feel free to share my videos but do not download any content without permission with the intent to reupload. If you would like to license any content, please get in touch: [email protected]

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