THOUSANDS of people have been following the progress of baby owl quadruplets which are growing up in a barn nesting box on the Blackdown Hills.

A ‘nest cam’ set up by the Somerset Wildlife Trust has been streaming the four owlets live for people to log in and view day and night.

The owlets, who were born in April, have now been ringed so they can be tracked in the future.

They are being looked after in a secret location on the hills to protect them.

The owlets were born to father Finn and mother Trude, who have been busy nightly catching three voles for each of their four youngsters.

As nocturnal animals they slept through the ringing process, which helped those attaching the identity tags.

Trainee bird ringer Mark Winsloe said: “You have got to be very careful with the talons, clearly that is what they use to hunt with, and they will be practicing kicking and pushing their legs now, so it is just as well to keep a wary eye on the talons.”

The trust believed the popularity of the owlets helped to prompt people to join the county’s first mass count of native species which took place recently.

The project saw 977 observations from 154 observers of 12 species

Kirby Everett, from the charity, said the new initiative aimed to track the progress of specific species living in Somerset by collecting information about them in local communities.

People were able to literally count what they saw as they walked their dog, or were out in the garden, in a park, or anywhere else.

The data collected will help to build a picture of how climate change was affecting Somerset’s wildlife.