Little Owl Hide
The Little Owls of Harlthorpe have been nesting in an old willow tree for over ten years, we now have a roomy three-person hide set up to photograph the owls. We monitor their progress each year and will update the website and social media when there active, You will see
either adults or Owlets during your stay, if you want to see the Owlets please enquire as they get bolder after a few weeks after branching.
Hide Rentals: (Usually Mid-May-Sept) £120 per person per day. Two or Three persons (maximum) booking together, £90 each per day.
Lens Range: 400-600mm (Full Frame or Crop Sensor Photo or Video)
Hide Location: Harlthorpe (30 mins S/E of York). 2 Min walk from our Car Park.
The hides are open at 8 am prompt and close at 5 pm, although you are welcome to stay later with agreement. On sunny windless days the hide can get hot, please bring plenty of water. There are no sit-down toilets on site.
Advice and Hide Rules.
Green Farm is a working farm, occasionally you might experience tractors visiting the fields and noise from the main yard, but this doesn't affect the birds.
Movement. To improve visits refrain from fast camera movement between perches, do not move any perches!
For the best experience please put your mobile phone on silent, make as little noise as possible, and do not tap the hide to attract the birds to look at you.
The birds can arrive anytime during your visit, on average in the first few hours, sometimes ten minutes after being fed, They are wild birds so the actual time they visit is out of our control.
The Owls are not dependent on our food, the male does all the hunting until the chicks can control their body temperature so the female will brood them for a few weeks.
Once the young have left the nest they will be building up their strength by branching, preening and observing their new surroundings, for the first few weeks the adults will still feed them. The sun rises at approx. 4.30 am, as do the birds.
To attract the birds in front of the hide is a balance with not overfeeding them, but also bringing them to the perches at a distance they are comfortable with and that doesn't stress them out, remember they are wild birds and that's how we want them to remain.
