Fledgling owls....& other residents at maureville

B&B's aren't the only visitors who stay here at Maureville. Numerous swallows and black redstarts nest in the sheds and barns ...theyare both bossy breeds who object to humans getting into their space. This is unfortunate as the swallows like to nest in the shed where I keep my freezer, which leaves me ducking in & out of the door as they angrily squawk & dive-bomb me! The black redstarts chirrup and bob up & down..obviously telling you to go away!
Sparrows nest in the leylandii hedge and in the holes & cracks in the stones of the house in vast numbers...they are cheeky and cheerful, and totally infazed by human company.
2 years ago we had a kestrel that nested on the north side of the house. Not an area that we use much. At the same time we had little owls nesting in the chimney....I'm pretty sure I posted a photo of the fledgling as he sat in the cherry tree.
This year the kestrels have nested in the eaves at the front of the house. They are very visible and noisy..but not easy to photograph...and don't understand why humans should be allowed in the garden. They've had 2 families this year and are constantly swooping back & forth with tasty morsels for the offspring ( 1 per nest!)
Haven't seen the little owls for a while, so imagine my surprise yesterday! I was alone in the house & heard a bump. My first thought was that Mavis ( pussy-cat) was trapped somewhere, so went around opening doors & calling. Eventually found her outside my bedroom window & rather forgot about the strange noises.
7 hours later & I was watching TV. Geoff had already gone to bed and Battie was curled up in her basket..when I heard a clonk...similar to the afternoon's noise!  Then I saw something move inside the wood-burning stove.
The chimney sweep had visited us over a month ago, and ...it's June, possibly not the greatest June , but we've not had a fire since long before the chimney sweep's visit. Many years ago I remember finding a bat in the woodburner. It was 3-4" long & appeared to be asleep ( I think it was late autumn). We took it to the barn & hung it up  ( or do I mean down?!)on a perch. Never saw it again!
This time I wasn't sure what it was.....so I woke Geoff. He's the naturalist of the family! Peering into the fireplace, we saw, hiding behind bits of wood a small fluffy owl. Geoff found some heavy duty gloves and pulled him out. Poor little chap was quite bewildered.
Next problem was what to do with him.
It was dark outside..but wild life was aplenty. Nocturnal birds are are noisy & we didn't like the idea of 'wol' being eaten the minute we released him. I don't think the kestrels would have thought twice about the little fledgling.
We don't really know where his nest had been, but we see owls in the barn, so that is where we left him. As we went back to the barn I'm sure I saw a little owl on the  fence post. I like to think it was his mum who went & found him.
No sign of any owls this morning!