Holiday park’s owl is back, but parents don’t give a hoot!

Staff and guests at Silverdale holiday park in Cumbria are cheering on a young tawny owl which refuses to fly the nest and make its own way in the world.

The wildlife drama is being played out on an infra-red CCTV camera which is trained on an owl nesting box in the grounds of the park.

Recordings show the one-year-old owl, nicknamed Boomerang, repeatedly trying to invite itself back into its parents’ home – but mum and dad are having none of it.

The youngster is seen on the camera footage being rebuffed every time it tries to settle back in the comfy quarters where it was born last year.

According to nature watchers at Silverdale, Boomerang’s attempts to stage a return have been going on since last summer, but the “no vacancies” sign remains firmly in place.

Now, believe staff, the parents are becoming even more eggs-asperated as they prepare to rear a new brood of baby tawny owls in the box.

The homing bird, they say, looks perfectly healthy – and will probably finally take the hint when it sees its former crash pad packed with brothers and sisters.

Meanwhile, the park is preparing to take a new round of wildlife-friendly initiatives this year, and hopes to retain the gold David Bellamy Conservation Award it received in 2016.

Among the measures praised by award assessors was the creation of many wildflower areas where high nectar-bearing blooms attract honey bees and a wide range of butterflies.

Announcing the award last autumn, David Bellamy described Silverdale as “fantastic flag-wavers for green tourism where wildlife is given the same VIP treatment as guests”.

But although one young fan of the park isn’t exactly getting a red carpet welcome just now, there are high hopes that Boomerang will soon feather its nest elsewhere.

After all, says the park, Silverdale’s 100 acres and thousands of trees have been producing owls of delight for years!