our neighbours.....

It all began a couple of weeks ago. Our dear friends Jan and Dave had come to stay for the half term break and we were really looking forward to seeing them. We've missed them a lot since we left, we regularly cat sat for each others' moggies and have been friends since the school gate days. Moreover they have always been at the bottom of the road, - so we've dropped into to each others' homes for a glass of wine, parties and celebrations over the years we've known each other. We knew they were in need of a rest after the busy lives they lead, so we didn't plan anything except for the Jubilee Tea Party. Jan was sitting on the gallery one late afternoon and became aware of a squawking sound nearby. She got the binoculars to investigate further and called us to use the binoculars. There perched on a ledge of a window space at the house 20 metres beyond ours was an owl. We quickly turned to the bird books we keep handy to discover more.
Our new neighbour was a Little Owl(Athene noctua). It measures between 23-27 cms tall and has the habit of perching where it can easily be seen. Well that fitted our owl!
Small with a large, broadly rounded head, long legs and a short tail.

And there he/she sat, and we began to discover that this owl and indeed as it turned out it's partner are raising a family in the space behind the tiles.

Each day I have learnt to listen out for both the parents' cries and that of their offspring! They are good parents, visiting the nest site morning evening and sometimes during the day. They are most active and most noisy at night!

Even in the rain they come to their baby.

One of the parents is guarding the nest from the roof top opposite!

I've tried to photograph the baby but it is really difficult to do so because I do not want to disturb the adults as they fly back and forth with tasty titbit's for it (or them!)

This is the best I could do!

I'll try to keep photographing the site  and keep you up with our new neighbours!