May 20th, 1999

 Red-flowered horse chestnut (Aesculus x carnea).Most trees are now in full leaf and the horse chestnuts, which are always the first to show signs of growth, are in full bloom. There are a number of fine old specimens of the true, white-flowered horse chestnut in the gardens and there is a less impressive example of the pink-flowered hybrid in the shrubbery. The flowers are just beginning to shed their petals and these can be seen lying on the ground below the trees in large numbers. As the petals fall, the first small green fruits, which will later become the spiky cases containing the chestnuts, are just beginning to show.

The past two weeks have seen the return of little owls to the barn. Little owls have bred in the barn regularly in recent years but have not been present for the past few months. On the 18th, in the early evening, I located an owl in a large black poplar which stands near the barn Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).when I heard the 'pinging' alarm calls of two blackbirds. The little owl moved to a different tree three times during the next few minutes but the mobbing continued after each move. In fact, the blackbirds were joined by greenfinches in the first tree, bluetits in the second and a mistle thrush in the third. Another sighting was on the morning of the 20th, when the alarm calls of a blackbird again lead me to an adult owl, in a horse chestnut tree behind the sports hall.

I had a quick look around the inside of the barn a few days ago but could not find evidence that the barn has seen more than light use by the little owls recently. The usual signs that I look for are small pellets, containing bits of beetle carapace, remains of dung beetles (Geotrupes stercorarius), or what, at first sight, appear to be bootlaces but turn out to be the remains of worms.