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Fascinating Pieter..

Hopefully I will be able to come around within the next week.

Thanks for all those info and best of luck for the next few weeks...............

A week and a half after we have seen them for the first time.



A owl pallet (might be from an adult.) Look closely to the photo and you will see rodant bones and hair.



See how close, about a meter and a half, to their nest did we managed to extinguish the fire.



I,m pointing to the chicks.

Today we are very very excited, because one chicks has spread it wings and has flown about 20 meters. Just as proud as when your baby take his/her first steps.

More with my next posting

This makes good reading Pieter! Well done

Wonderful Pieter!

Thanks for sharing this story Pieter..good luck

OMW, thank goodness you stopped it in time.

I can well imagine your excitement, I'd be watching the nest 24 hours if I could.

Thankfully you were able to stop the fire in time. That must have made for some pretty tense moments.

Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures and story. It will be a bittersweet moment when they leave.

I hope they find a new home with good and caring land owners like yourselves.

Your efforts are much appreciated by those in the birding world

What a wonderful story - thank you for sharing it!

It is so good to hear that there are still people out there who really cares about nature.

Thank you for all the comments.

Thank you Trevor for the additional info that you have sent to me.

Yes it is a wonderful experience to see the chicks developing and hopefully soon establish their own territory. We are also in the process of cutting the grass around 3 properties shorter in order to make a proper fire brake. By doing this we would be able to preserve the area for the adults as well. Next year we will start early and hopefully the adults will still be here and may be chicks again. Time will tell. All my neighbours are now just as excited as I’m about the owls

I have also noticed that early in the morning, just after sunrise the chicks move into openings in the grass and bake in the sun. Later during the day they hide in long grass.

See how well the chicks hide in the grass.





We tried to make a fire brake but the wind started blowing and pushed the fire in the wrong direction and we had to extinguish it. We were 14 people all together and one of me workers picked-up flames by accident with the fire swatter (I think that’s what it is called) and dropped it behind him, setting the grass behind him on fire. That was a scary moment for all.




I’m now on my own.





He is properly the chick that hatched first. It was just luck that we saw him flying and where he landed. His first flight, about 20 meters. We thought that it was one on the adults at first.






See how well the wing feathers have developed. However, the chick’s body still covered with fluffy feathers.

This is sooo fantastic!!!! Thank you for the photos.

They are just beautiful!!! Thanks for the updates and new photos..........

The chicks are growing fast.





When I saw the one chick flying I thought that they have split up, and that they will be found on different areas. To my surprise I found all three (3) back together again.

Look at me I’m sporting a new hairstyle on my head.



Only one off the chicks is still covered with fluffy feathers.

Absolutely beautiful....