When Luna the Tawny Owl’s three eggs failed to hatch this Spring, fate intervened to give her two orphaned owlets to look after. Robert E Fuller is an artist who lives in North Yorkshire. He has created homes in his garden for badgers, weasels, stoats, owls, and kestrels and uses wildlife cameras hidden in their nests to record their stories for his artwork. He also rehabilitates wildlife, such as stoats, from time to time.
As it happened, at the same time as Luna lost her eggs, Robert received a call from a local farm that said they had found two 2-week-old tawny owlets on the ground and orphaned.
“They were living in a straw stack out in a field, and when the farmer had gone to move the bales, these youngsters fell to floor,” explained Robert. “The farmer did not know that the owls were nesting there, as tawny owls are notoriously secretive.”
Given their young age, the owlets’ survival depended on them being brooded by their parents. So Robert thought he might see if Luna would accept the two rescued chicks.
He rushed them over to Luna’s nest in a tree and placed them inside. Watch her take them “under her wing” the moment she finds them in her nest.
It wasn’t just Luna who accepted the new babies. The male owl, Bomber, arrived and seemed very excited to find the chicks.
“These owlets have now been living in their new nest for a week and are thriving under Luna’s tender care,” wrote Robert on his YouTube channel. “It is wonderful to watch her brood the youngsters – although it won’t be long before they are too big to brood.”
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