I think we'd been here for a good while before i found out that there was a Barn owl nest box in .... well .... a barn out in the farm yard!
The first image I found was in September 2023 and it's pretty awful so I won't be sharing it here but as you might imagine, having Barn owls right next door makes for great photo opportunities which I haven't really made the most of but, here are a selection of those shots I did get.
The first thing I struggled with was the low light in there and started using de-noising software which in my opinion doesn't always enhance the image so, I've stopped and tried to be better at getting the shot in the first place.
If I was lucky, I'd catch one out on the shelf. In April of 2025 I caught sight of the first pair using the box, you can see how noisy this shot is.
Then in June of 2025 ...
I caught sight of at least two young Barn owls!
On August 11th of 2025, I happened to check the shed next door and saw this!
Like a pair of children out to play, they explored all around, aware of my presence but allowing me to stand there and grab these shots before heading for the nest again.
There are a couple of youngsters in the nest box now and I've discovered a second nest not too far away so maybe I'll get lucky again this year?
What i haven't seen yet, is any of them out hunting!
