We've barely taken our seats inside the pop-up hides when we hear them calling. It's a sound that will strike a chord with parents of young children everywhere because, roughly translated, it means: 'Feed me'. And it's not long before the mother obliges.
A tawny owl photographed at Kevin Robson's hide in Cambridgeshire. Picture: Paul Brackley She swoops in, silently and majestically, aware that a little something to help meet the incessant demand of her young is available. She's just metres away – it's a rare and privileged view – and we rattle off some photographs before she flies the short distance to the tree to our left where her owlets impatiently wait.
It's tempting to check the back of the camera screen to see if we've captured the action, but there's no time, because she's back – looking for more food. And this is just the start of an incredible experience at Kevin Robson's tawny owl hides on private land in Fen Drayton. A tawny owl photographed at Kevin Robson's hide in Cambridgeshire.
Picture: Paul Brackley The beautiful female tawny visits repeatedly – perhaps 25 times or more – over the course of a couple of hours as she seeks out food. The views are incredible, as they were when I first visited last year. This time around, I'm also hoping for a glimpse of the owlets.
Like most people, I've never seen a tawny owlet. That soon changes as one fluffy chick flies down to be near its mum. It's an incredible sight – the tawny mother on one branch and one of .
