Well it’s been quite a ride this past Year, (in fact it’s been quite a ride for about 6 years!) but the Owls were one of the things that kept me going in many ways.
I was over the moon to see Thyra return and lay not one, not two but three eggs this year and it many ways due to personal life stuff it felt like a fitting end to the Owl adventure.
She did lay three last year as well but one broke and so we ended up with just the two Owlets, which in itself was awesome but this year when she laid three again and managed to sit on them the entire gestation period I was stoked and really thought we would get three fluffy owls.
However one evening Thor, the male, bought her a rodent and because the owls never seem to eat rodents or birds in the box until after the owlets have hatched, she duly left the box with the presented rodent in her beak, but unfortunately there was also an egg attached to her undercarriage. My guess it the egg had actually split and was stuck to her feathers.
I found the empty shell the next morning and there didn’t appear have been anything in it.
Then to my dismay the following night the same thing happened again and another egg was lost. Again I found the shell the next morning and once again it didn’t appear as if anything had been inside.
She continued to sit for a further 8 or so days, and by now I had given up as the final egg was long overdue, and sure enough I happened to check the internal camera feed early one morning just as she was manoeuvring the final egg inside the box and I saw the runny yolk seep out from a crack on the side. She proceeded to clean up and then went back to sleeping.
The Black Magic Design Pyxis 12K Camera in my Long lens setup, using the Sigma 60-600 mm
I knew this would likely be the last time I would get to see her this year and perhaps forever for me as I am likely forced to sell my property for various personal reasons.
The evening came and cloud cover set in, as I wanted to film on the Black Magic Pyxis 12K Cinema camera I knew I would be limited by the ISO performance as it’s not known as a low light beast so I figured I had lost the final opportunity to get some decent footage of her.
I set everything up and waited…. and waited and watched the internal camera feed and waited some more.
Suddenly the sun poked it’s way out form behind the clouds and lit up the box and Thyra, right on cue, decided to show herself.
It was a wonderful 30 mins as she observed me as I observed her, and thankfully, although it’s been a year since she had really seen me, she didn’t seem bothered by the human poking a camera in her general direction and watched the World go by eventually stepping out onto the perch just before I had to call it a day as neither I nor the camera could actually see her anymore.
The Final image shot on the Pyxis 12K
Sure enough neither of the Owls returned the next evening, and the Starlings promptly took over the nest box the next day.
I decided to set the internal camera to timelapse to at least enjoy the Starlings and their frenetic nest building activities but to my surprise both Owls did return last night (9.11.2026) and spent quite some time in and around the box, but I’m doubtful they will have another go as I think they only lay one clutch of eggs each year.
The Starlings have pretty much filled the box with nest material and the Owls hate the kind of material they use as it’s too long and gets stuck on and in their talons, but we’ll see.
