No Ordinary Bird Table

 I think I have mentioned before that a couple of weeks ago we heard an owlet calling from the top of the pigeonnier. Although it was hot at the time we were fearful that it/they had been hatched so late in the season that survival was unlikely. As it's cries for food each evening became louder and louder, and for longer and longer (dark at 7.30pm and still shouting at 6am the next morning) we couldn't ignore it anymore.

We follow a wildlife YouTube blogger "Robert Fuller" who has several barn owl nests (amongst many other creatures) on his property. From his videos we see that he regularly puts out supplementary food to help the owls. So we wrote to him for advice. His team kindly replied and said that additional food was essential if our little one was to stand any chance of survival. They suggested obtaining frozen day old chicks, a biproduct of the poultry industry. I think that rider was intended to make us feel less squemish!! Where on earth were we to find these, particularly as we had no idea of the French for day old chicks?

The first pet shop we visited we managed to establish that they are called "poussin" that is after I realised that I was asking for year old chicks. Just a slip anyone can make, no wonder the assistant looked thoroughly confused. He suggested we try a garden centre up the road. Eureka, no problem.  We had a choice of mice or chicks. Mice were crazily expensive so, as this was just an experiment, we opted for the chicks. In passing he asked what we wanted them for, Barn Owls we said (we know 2 different words for them in French but he seemed never to have heard of either. So I started "Twit a Wooing" as you do in the middle of a shop but he must have been a townie who had never heard an owl call).

Having secured the frozen chicks in the freezer (special drawer) the next task was to choose a place to put the feeding station (i.e bird table). In the past we have seen the adult regularly fly towards the big oak tree at the bottom of the front garden so we decided to put it in this vicinity. How do you teach an owl to look for dinner in a particular place? Sparrows are no problem they just seem to find where you have put it.

So darkness approaching, and trail camera set up ( to ensure that we are not feeding any old owls in the neighbourhood) we deposited the chick on the table. Disappointment the next morning when the chick was still there.

If you never hear anymore about this experiment assume it didn't work. We care and we tried!!