Owl Growth

Long-eared owl in the snow

It has been a busy couple of months at the Centre, so busy in fact that I have rarely picked up my camera! People have often said to me, "It must be lovely working there, being able to take photographs whenever you want"... but that's the thing, I'm working here!.. rarely get the time to photograph, it's just when I do get the time I have a few advantages of course.

So what's been happening? Well, them owls been growing... What's it take to make a long eared owl like Archimedes above? About 8 weeks growth from the chick below...

This is Leo at around 3 weeks old. It always amazes me every time we rear an owl how quickly they change, but they have too grow their adult feathers quick to help survive in the wild. You can see he can't reliably stand on his legs yet, often sitting on his haunches.

Another week or so, and now a confident stander... almost strutting you might say. Head is beginning to take shape, and the feathers beginning to push through on his wings.

A bit older, and a bit more feather showing. More coming through too on the tail and wings, and the face continuing to take shape. Beginning to look like an owl.

Not far off the finished article. Wings and tail are complete, facial disc looking good, just some down to lose on the chest and back. The back of the head is nearly always the last to mature, and then his little ear tufts will begging to emerge.

I have lots of photos of all British owls developing, but won't bore you here and now. But just to finish see these three stages of a barn owl growing and maturing.

Thanks for looking :-)

Owl Chick Growth

Archimedes, Long Eared Owl Chick

I try to keep up with any new and interesting books on British wildlife, and today had a new book about owls come through the post. This, along with the fun feedback I have had from the "Hedwig" set of photos of him growing, made me think of posting these photos of owls during their growth.

Above of course is Archimedes, our flying long-eared owl. Below is a series of barn owls followed by tawny owls.

Barn Owl Chicks

When owls start of life they are quite a messy ball of fluff, but much like the ugly duckling story, they mature and develop into beautiful owls. These barn owls above are about 3 weeks old, and it is 3 weeks or younger that I like to get an owl if we are to then train it to fly.

Barn Owl Chick

From a pure white bundle of fluff, the barn owl starts to look messier with some darker colours coming through where feathers are beginning to form. You can even see the classic heart shape face from this young age.

Barn Owl Chick

They moult through there feathers, usually the tail and wings are among the first to develop. This allows them to learn to fly at an early age as possible.

Barn Owl Chick

Feathers then working up the back and around the face. It is usually the front of the owl and the top of the head last to moult through... but not always.

Barn Owl Chick

Then all that is left is a few whips of downy feather all over the body, but mainly around the wings.

Big Pete, Barn Owl

And then there you are... a beautiful adult owl, as beautiful as Big Pete above.

Tawny Owl Chicks

The above two are tawny owl chicks at 2 days old, you can even still see the egg tooth on each of there beaks. I think tawny owl chicks are among the cutest of them all.

Two Young Tawny Owl Chicks

A few days later, and the eyes just opened, still very dependant though of course and still quite fragile.

Tawny Owl Chick

As they grow they become a ball of fluff before the feathers start to come through, but there whole growth stage does not take long. An owl is fully grown in around 12 weeks.

Tawny Owl Chick

As the wing feathers develop, the owl can start to branch out, stepping out on to the branches and flapping its wings, lifting itself off and landing again, just building up the muscles and technique ready for a test flight.

Tawny in the Evening

Once fully grown they are a skilled and adept hunter, and ready to fend for themselves, although they may still stay in the vicinity of mum and dad for a few more weeks before being chased off to find their own territories.

Thanks for looking

Animals in the Bluebells

Tawny Owl Flying over the Bluebells

Hello to visitors new and not so new. For those that have come for the first time from the BWC Blog, or any other link, this blog is to share more photos from around the British Wildlife Centre. Photos that may not necessarily be linked to a story on the main blog, or just extra photos that I thought some of you may like to see, but I didn't want to clog up the main blog with for those that didn't.

Firstly, for those that are new, have a look back through the archives and you will see a few photos of all seven British owls and the earlier post this week with some fresh water vole pics taken a few days ago.

For everyone who has been visiting, thank you for the support, this blog has got of to a flying start and in only 3 weeks of being active is already averaging over 50 independent hits a day! I really am surprised, but very pleased, that so many of you want to see more BWC action! I am sure this will continue to increase over the weeks, especially today when I officially announce it on the main blog.

OK, enough rambling, the most requested photos were for some I took in the bluebells earlier this year. I am sure you can imagine I took many, so have included a few here...

Above is Florence flying over the bluebells, I took one similar a few years a go which became very well known, I have included it below, but this one above has shown how far I have come personally in my photography. The newer photos definitely have a style to them... but then I still find it hard to chose which I prefer out of the two.

Hedgehog in the Bluebells

This is one of our hedgehogs called Timone. I love bluebells, just the blaze of violet across the woodland floor contrasting beautifully with the vivid green. I always feel I need to make the most of it, and do some photography, but have to have an animal there to make it worth while. This usually means owls, as they are easier to take down to the woods and are trained. It would be impossible to take one of our foxes down there for example. However, one of our friendly hedgehogs can easily be moved, and they seem to enjoy the enrichment of exploring the woods.

Barn Owl in the Bluebells

Big Pete on the edge of the woods.

Little Owl in the Blubells

Little Scrappy, almost completely lost in the bluebells.

Scrappy in the Bluebells

And one a bit more isolated, with just an impression of colour in the background.

Long Eared Owl in the Bluebells

Archimedes, one of our long eared owls, very sleepy during his shoot... could barely open his eyes.

Larry!

By coincidence, a tawny owl chick was bought in on the afternoon I was heading down to the woods. So we took him with us while we were waiting for the local rescue centre to come and collect him.

Eagle Owl in the Bluebells

Ethel the eagle owl... not very natural, but a pretty picture.

Lucy and Ethel in the Bluebells

A lot of the photos I take for work can be done on my own, but some I do need help. Mainly for the owls if there is no where to tether them... To be honest, I highly doubt they would fly off, they are well trained, but it is best not to take the risk. Above is Lucy in the bluebells with Ethel.

So, they are a pick of ones I took earlier this year. You may have seen some already on the BWC website. Below are a few from the years...

Harvest Mouse on Bluebells

I mentioned the difficulty of mammals above for the bluebells... I once took some badger cubs down to the woods to photo in the bluebells, but didn't really make the most of the chance. It was the first year I had a camera, and I didn't really know what I was doing.

Above is a harvest mouse. Easy to perch... but very difficult to find a bluebell strong enough to take his weight. Surprising since they only weigh as much as a two pence coin!

Peeking Tawny in the Bluebells

This is Florence peeking around a tree taken last year. This is one of my favourites, and one of a few I submitted in to the BWPA this year... it didn't get short-listed though.

Florence in the Bluebells

Portrait of Florence in the bluebells.

Winged Assassin of Bluebell Wood

And lastly, the one I took of Florence flying over the bluebells a few years a go. Different to the first, and I am not sure which one I prefer, but this was one of the first photos that really got noticed by people other than visitors to the BWC. It made it in to three national papers on the same day, and has sold a few prints over the years too... all proceeds of which I donate to the good work we do here at the BWC.

Thanks for looking

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus

Last but not least of the seven owls, the Snowy Owl... Once resident over here on the Northern isles of Scotland, now believed to just be a migrant visitor during the colder winter months. 

Snowy owls just look out of place most of the time, but when we get some now here they suddenly make sense. You can see above how brilliantly and beautifully they blend into their surroundings! 

I have very few photos of Hedwig out of the snow, and those I do are nearly all taken only older D90, but here are a few.

Hedwig in the Daisies

Snowy owls do perch, but they are also often found on the ground, and so for our owl days we offer both. This is a young Hedwig in a few daisies in the lead up to summer.

Snowy Owl

And this is him taken earlier this year, and the only photo in this post taken with my newer camera. You can see on his wing and back how much he has aged/moulted... far less of the black specks. He is likely to lose more over the next few years too.

Take Off

 I really enjoy taking photographs of our owls flying, and love the shapes they often create in the air. This is one of the first flight shots I took of any owl, and was really just a hop shot of him jumping up from the log in the dell before flying to an a-frame. I would love the log not to be there, and the background to be further away, but am still happy with it being one of my first.

Hedwig at around 2 weeks

 Owls are ugly little things when they first hatch, but it only takes them about 12 weeks to grow to a beautiful owl. They grow extremely fast!

Hedwig at around 8 weeks

 Hedwig always seemed happy as a quickly growing chick, and soon became a favourite at the Centre.

Hedwig fully grown

 Expect more flying shots, owl growth and snow photos in the future. I know the snow photos from last year in particular has been asked for, so I will get round to showing some of those in a week or so.

Thanks for looking.