Barn owls Gylfie & Dryer have come a long way together. Watch their journey from awkward courtship to becoming great parents and see how the whole owl family flourished under the guidance of experienced owl mum Gylfie.

Date filmed: 2023

Watch Gylfie & Dryer interact live on my nest cam:    • Live From Fotherdale | Robert E Fuller   and follow their story in this playlist: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

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ABOUT THIS FILM
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Barn owl pair
Gylfie is an experienced owl. The day she paired with Dryer was special, since he was a rescued owl rehabilitated here at Fotherdale alongside Gyflie's previous mate Finn.

Barn owl courtship
But Dryer was awkward. Younger and inexperienced he seemed unsure of his role.

Gylfie took charge
But Gylfie soon took him in hand, even one day mounting Dryer in a bizarre role reversal.

Barn owl eggs
Her instigations worked because by June of that year Gylfie was incubating four eggs.

Protective owl mum
Soontobe dad Dryer was intrigued, but Gylfie was very protective of her egg clutch. Unable to get close, he turned his attention to becoming an excellent provider bringing in more than Gylfie could eat!

Chicks hatch
By July the first chick hatched, followed two days later by two more. But it was five days before the fourth egg cracked and a tiny chick emerged, clearly weak.

Sad loss
Unfortunately this last chick didn't make it and then Gyflie did a shocking thing. She fed its corpse to the remaining three. Upsetting to watch, birds of prey will eat dead chicks before hey decompose and attract scavengers to the nest.

Dad Dryer
As the three remaining chicks grew, dad Dryer was clearly proud of his brood, but at times he expected too much of them. Watch him try to feed them prey whole, before they are able to tear it up.

Chicks grow
By four weeks, the chicks were regulating their own temperatures and Gylfie was able to leave them alone in the nest.

Names
Followers of this channel name them Thunder, Storm and Cloud and soon their characters developed. The eldest, Thunder had a caring nature and was spotted taking food to the youngest, Cloud.

First fledges
It was amazing to watch the chicks' first moments out in the world and to see, first Thunder, then each sibling, take to the skies.

Parental support:
But they didn't venture far to begin with. For several weeks Dryer and Gylfie continued to protect and feed them close to the nest.

Developing independence:
And as they improved their flying and hunting abilities, we watched them explore further from the nest site. Interestingly Storm seemed unwilling to venture very far.

Sibling bond
And the youngest Cloud was keen to stay close to big sister. They took up residence in Beech stump, but this is tawny owl territory and they soon learned to keep out.

Gylfie's display
Although it wasn't until Gylfie paid them a visit that they decided to move on. Gylfie knows better than to trust fledglings she once lost a chick to a returning fledgling and she won't risk that happening again.

Storm
Juvenile barn owls usually disperse at distances up to five miles. But Storm was spotted frequently on camera in Ash Wood. Perhaps we will get to continue to watch her story in years to come.

ABOUT ME
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.

You may like to purchase my artwork: https://www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the characters you watch here!

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CHAPTERS
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00:00 Introduction
05:32 Nest hunt
09:33 Egglaying
21:24 Chicks hatch
38:00 Fledging
45:17 Gylfie chases chicks off
47:14 Storm

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© Robert E Fuller

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