Simply beautiful . . .

Sometimes things happen that remind me just how lucky I am . . .

It's not often you get to meet two baby tawny owls! These little guys were picked up by a family this afternoon who found them huddled up on the ground of a churchyard looking very vulnerable. They are about four weeks old, already with huge talons, and a few orderly adult feathers starting to poke through the mad fuzz that is their chick down. They appear to be in pretty good condition and our friends at the Raptor Foundation have taken them to be cared for until they are ready to go back into the wild in a couple of months' time.

In the meantime, as it's not possible to determine their sex at the moment, they shall be known as Leslie and Francis!!

We all look forward to getting them back home and wish them a very happy future in the skies and trees of Bedfordshire!

As an aside, we've been talking to the guys at the foundation about picking up baby owls. Once they have been handled by people they can't go back to their nests and their parents and so although it's tempting to try to help it's actually better to leave them for a few hours before panicking. Often the parents will come along and feed them and they'll be ok. If in any doubt about what to do, give your local vet a call or the Raptor Foundation themselves for a bit of advice (www.raptorfoundation.org.uk).