Film | I Go To Help A Barn Owl Family, Then Find The One Thing I Dreaded | Gylfie & Dryer

After Dryer the barn owl goes missing, I take food to his young family - only to find the last thing I wanted to see.

Missing barn owl dad 

After searching for barn owl dad Dryer for days, my worst fears are confirmed when, just 100m from the nest, I find Dyer's body. Dryer and Gylfie, his partner of four years, had two owlets, Oak & Acorn. Aged just under two months, they depended on Dryer for food since at this stage Gylfie was already prospecting nests for a second brood. So when Dryer went missing a week ago it was important to help out. I only took a few, tiny, mice to the nest since I wanted the owlets to remain hungry enough to call out which would encourage Gylfie to continue to feed them.

Searching for Dryer

After delivering the mice, I continued my search for Dryer. I had already been round all the water troughs - since these are often fatal for birds in hot weather, but just in case I made one last visit to the trough where Gylfie's last partner, Finn, sadly died. So much of our wildlife drowns in water troughs. They go in to drink or bathe and then are unable to get out. But it's so simple to make troughs safe - just a small plastic tray or a breeze block at one end creates a step for animals to get out. I noticed a tawny owl feather at the trough - evidence of at least one life saved.

A heartbreaking discovery

On my way back from checking the trough, I make a heartbreaking discovery. Poor Dryer was lying in a grassy bank just metres away from the nest. The cause of death is not clear at this stage. In the meantime I'll continue to give Gylfie a helping hand until her chicks can fend for themselves.