Owlets attract thousands of live-stream viewers

Four newborn Tawny owlets have been attracting hundreds of thousands of fans on social media, who have been watching them hatch and grow via a live-stream.

North Yorkshire wildlife artist and filmmaker Robert Fuller builds nesting boxes for birds on his farm, including resident owls Luna and Shadow and their four recently-hatched chicks.

Fuller said a camera he set up in the owls' nest has allowed people from across the globe to keep up with five-week-old Bolt, Breeze, Gale and Rain from the moment they were laid.

"I thought it was just me who has this obsession with watching [the owls]. But there's a whole community of people all over the world that are deeply interested," he said.

He added: "I think it's the fact you can actually see into something you would never ever see as a human."

He said Luna would "fiercely protect" her owlets until September or October.

"It's absolutely great to have four owlets up here because Luna would normally have three eggs," he added.

"That's a really big clutch for tawny owls."

According o the RSPB, Tawny Owls are the most common owls in the UK, with about 50,000 breeding pairs.

However their numbers dropped by more than 40% between 1995 and 2023 and are now on the Amber List of Birds of Conservation Concern.

Fuller said the owlets, who were named because of the storm that was raging overhead while they were hatching, had begun getting ready to leave the nest.

He said a natural part of that was the owlets falling to the ground as they developed their flying skills.

"They look like a cuddly toy and look like they should not be out there, but they can actually climb up a vertical tree trunk," he said.

He advised anyone who spotted an owlet on the ground not to interfere, unless they appear injured or are near a road.

"Most of the time it's perfectly natural and they should be left where they are," he said.

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