A mother owl, whose own eggs failed to hatch, has delighted her rescuer by instantly adopting a pair of orphaned, wild owlets who fell from their nest.
Wildlife artist and filmmaker Robert E. Fuller, from North Yorkshire, England, has been the caretaker of tawny owl pair Luna and Bomber for several years.
Fuller said that Luna’s eggs failed to hatch last year, and the same happened this year. Luna laid three eggs in the middle of March, which were due to hatch in mid-April, but they did not.
“There’s always a small chance these things can go wrong. … Nevertheless, when it turns out well, it’s amazing,” Fuller said. “It seems to have really struck a chord, and the videos have been watched millions of times.”
The owlets were named Dawn and Dusk by netizens who were following the story, after a viewers’ poll on Fuller’s channel. The siblings have now fledged the nest and are both doing well in the wild.
Luna and Bomber are something of a power couple, despite recent disappointments in hatching their own eggs; they have raised chicks in the past, including another orphaned pair, Eric and Ernie, who Luna welcomed into her brood of four while Bomber hunted for food.
On his website, Fuller describes dutiful father Bomber as “a tender parent,” “fiercely territorial,” and showing no sign of slowing down despite his advanced age.
The wildlife expert, who has rescued and rehabilitated many different species of English wildlife, lives on a farm in the hamlet of Great Givendale, just 3 miles from where he grew up. He’s been close to animals since childhood.
Luna the owl has wanted to be a mom for a long time, but the affectionate bird hasn’t had the best of luck. Over the last two years, she’s tried—with little success—to start a family of her own. “Not only did her eggs fail to hatch this year, but she also lost her clutch last year,” says British wildlife artist and rehabilitator Robert E. Fuller, explaining Luna’s difficult journey to motherhood.