A barn owl flies into a barn carrying a vole. Picardie, France.

We share the house here with many animals. I think that’s a nice thing, but we have little say in it anyway. Bats, garden dormice and beech martens are frequent occupants, to name just a few (and of course there’s the wood mouse that lives in the kitchen), but my favorite has always been the barn owl. Year after year we’ve had a breeding pair in the barn, raising the ugliest fluff balls of chicks on the planet into the most elegant birds you’ve ever seen. The French aptly call it dame blanche, white lady. They also call it l’effraie des clochers, the fright of the bell towers, for its spine-chilling screech.

Luck has not been with our owls this year. The severe winter took its toll and the female did not survive. Many barn owls in the region died from the cold. Originally a tropical species, they’re not well adapted to snowy winters. The poor male, left behind, spent most of the season calling in the hopes of attracting a new mate. He called and called, but it was in vain. It’s too late in the season to start another nest now. Or so we thought. But against all odds it seems his luck may have turned.

When I opened the barn earlier this week it spooked the male and he flew out. I don’t like disturbing the owls like that, but most of the barns where they roost are still in use, so I figure they must be somewhat used to it. Imagine my surprise when I heard the sounds of another owl moving about inside the nest box. Next I set up a camera trap. (It’s a device that sends out an infrared beam, and if an owl crosses the beam it trips my camera. Sounds a bit lazy, huh? Make no mistake, it’s not as easy as it sounds!) One photo shows our male flying in with a vole in his mouth and as far as I can tell the second owl never left the nest. When a female is brooding, she doesn’t leave the nest and the male will bring her food. So could it be that our male found a new mate and they’ve started a nest together this late in the season?

There’s no way to tell without looking inside the nest box, but if there’s really a female brooding, disturbing her at this stage could lead her to desert the nest. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.

A barn owl flies through a dormer. Picardie, France.