The Owls and the Orchard Wild

This is the tale

of a family of little owls who set up home

in an old English orchard.

Perhaps a surprising place for such wild creatures to be.

A man-made fruit garden is an unlikely wilderness, after all.

So how will life among the old fruit trees affect the family's fortune?

The end of winter,

and this secret part of Herefordshire seems quiet.

But under the mistletoe, a romance is blossoming.

Two little owls are in love.

# You do something to me

# Something that simply mystifies me

# Tell me... #

BIRD SINGS MERRILY

It's the start of their year.

Little owl lives, like all living things, are driven by the seasons.

Their family life is echoed by the annual cycle of the old fruit trees.

Spring first sweeps into the orchard on a white tide of pear blossom,

and all seems well.

There's only one forlorn-looking owl to be seen. Could something have happened to his mate?

One 300-year-old pear tree hides a secret...

..the brooding mother.

She'll have to incubate her eggs for four long weeks.

While the owls can do nothing but sit and wait,

the orchard around them bursts into life.

And suddenly, it's the owl's turn too.

A tiny white body peeps out from under its mother's wing.

The first of the owl chicks have hatched at last.

While the rest of the orchard sleeps at night, the little father has a job to get done.

His mate and his family depend on him entirely for food.

While the babies are tiny, the mother has to stay inside and keep them warm.

Spring nights can be dangerously cold.

# I'll be with you

# In apple blossom time... #

The old orchard is turning out to be a good choice.

In just a couple of weeks, the tiny white chicks will become grey bundles of fluff.

Just about feathered and chill-proofed now,

so both parents can race in the earthworm feeding relay.

Plump orchard worms slither down a treat.

But a chaffer beetle is quite a beakful.

It's not just owl chicks who are putting on weight.

By the end of May, all the blossom has gone and tiny fruits begin to swell.

CATTLE BELLOW

The parents have to hunt night and day to satisfy demand.

Their chicks love their worms, beetles and moths,

but they'll also snaffle up mice and even small birds.

It seems that every egg the mother laid has become a healthy baby.

Wise little owls - the soil under the old trees have not been ploughed for centuries.

It's a worm and insect paradise.

Perfect for rearing a family.

There are not just three, but five scruffy pom-poms - the full clutch.

The old orchard is a wildlife haven.

July, and high summer.

Easy days for the champion Hereford cattle.

# Summertime

# And the livin' is easy

# Fish are jumpin'

# And the cotton is high

# One of these mornings

# You're gonna rise up singin'

# Then you'll spread your wings

# And you'll take to the sky

# But till that morning

# There's a-nothin' can harm you

# With daddy and mamma standing by... #

Summer season is still busy season for little parents, though.

Their family are leaving the nest.

The chicks are still being fed by their parents.

But soon it will be time for them to leave and fend for themselves.

Childhood and English summers are never quite long enough.

By the time the first apples are ripening,

the owl parents have already said goodbye to their brood.

Although it might be quiet on the owl front, autumn sees a new burst of activity in the orchard.

Ripe fruit and seeds means new visitors.

Though have all the owl family gone?

Not quite.

The old orchard proved to be the perfect place for little parents to rear a big family.

Having found such a good home, they are here to stay.

-# In the shade of old apple trees

-Apple trees

-# When the love in your eyes I could read

-I could read

# From the wind and a buzz that I heard, like the song of birds

-# Seems to whisper sweet music to me

-Music to me

-# I could hear dove birds, buzz of the bees

-Buzz of the bees

-# In the blossom as you said to me

-Said to me...

# With a heart that is true

# I'll be waitin' for you... #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2005

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