Tawny Owl in my garden

You are very lucky!

So tame.Does he still roost in your garden?

Hi BB,

He was so used to us by the autumn that he would just sit in the trees and watch me hanging out the washing and/or the grandchildren playing in the garden. However, the adult pair are much more wary and don't come so far into the garden when we are outside, apart from when they returned to the nest with food and they would be in and out quickly!

We can already hear them calling to each other now so are hopefull that they will nest again this year.

Having been so successful last year why bother looking further afield this year ? ! You must be thrilled !

This is so brilliant Chris! Do they frequently appear in the daytime?

Yes they do Dawn - even now the mating pair are calling to each other in the afternoon.

absolutely fabulous Chris. You must be so pleased.

That's lovely Chris - may be difficult to describe but what is the mating call like? If they're calling already hopefully they'll be looking at using the nest box again.

Hi Dawn,

We hope they will use the box again as Tawny's mate for life and we would like them to stay in the garden. I am just worried about the noise the builders make disturbing them too much and scaring them off, but, as I have said we can hear their mating calls already, so we are hopeful.

Dawn, you are right, it is difficult to describe the owls mating song it is sort of like a bubbling hoot! Follow this link and you can hear a recording of the mating call http://www.barmoor-ecology.co.uk/owls.html - just scroll half way down the page to find the ''Tawny Owl's song to mate''.

Hi Chris, thanks so much for this information, I'll visit the website to have a listen. I do hope they come back for you this year and hope they are not put off by the builders, frustrating isn't it, but what can you do. I didnt realise they mated for life, bless! Thanks again Chris, Dawn