As many of you will know if living in Ipswich, we have a much loved tawny owl in one of Ipswich’s most popular parks, Christchurch Park. In a weathered veteran oak tree near the Westerfield entrance, is the perfect hollow for a tawny owl it seems. For several years, a tawny owl named Mabel sat in this hollow delighting passers-by as she slept happily in the open allowing people to admire her. After not being seen for a good year or so it is believed that Mabel might have moved on or passed away and a wooden statue of her stands adjacent to her tree in her memory, a symbol of how loved she was.

Late last year, the residents of Ipswich were then treated to the presence of another owl, who took up residence in Mabel’s snug hollow a top of her old oak tree in the park. After a vote, the Ipswich community have named the newcomer Matilda and, like Mabel, has delighted people all year, especially when she produced two chicks.

Seemingly posing for photos and happily sat in the trees whilst crowds gathered below, the three owls lifted many people’s spirits this year especially during lockdown, and I was touched to see how much joy they bought to people who used their hour of daily activity to go and see her, taking it in turns to stand under Mabel’s tree and admire them all. 

Keeping track of the chick’s progress and development was sometimes tricky as I couldn’t find them for a couple of weeks at a time as when they got older they branched out to other trees in the park. However I was fortunate enough to find one of Matilda’s feathers giving me a clue that they had moved to the other side of the park near Park Road. Chasing the trio round and hunting for them provided me with lots of fun during a time when we all couldn’t get out much and I was certainly thankful to them for that.

The chicks, now mature, will have fledged and left the park as tawny owls are territorial and whilst they lovingly care for their young as they rear them, when they reach maturity, they boot them out of the parental nest and with quite some force at times. Although it seems harsh, it comes down to survival tactics and continuing to share their territories with their offspring means sharing the local small mammal population. Winter is a harsh time of year for many species and tawnies need to feed up on mammals to get them through the winter but also to be fit enough to breed and produce offspring the following spring.  

Why not head out to Christchurch Park this winter and see if you can see Matilda?