Peasmarsh Barn Owl Webcam – Watch Owls in a Somerset Oak

The Peasmarsh Barn Owl Webcam looks inside a wooden owl box that the channel’s owners have put up in their oak tree in Somerset, in southwest England. The camera faces the back wall of the box, with a floor of scattered debris below and the round entrance hole glowing at the right edge of the picture. By day the image is in color, lit through that hole, and after dark it switches to black-and-white infrared. When a barn owl comes in to roost it can settle right in front of the lens, its pale, heart-shaped face and white breast filling much of the frame. A second camera, in its own tab, looks straight down into a blue tit nest box that comes to life in spring.

About Peasmarsh and Its Owl Box

The camera belongs to the Peasmarsh Owl Cam channel on YouTube, which describes itself as live and recorded cams of the barn owls in its nest box in Somerset, and has streamed live since March 2025. It does not publish an address, which is normal for a nest on private land, but its name points to Peasmarsh, a hamlet in the parish of Donyatt about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) southwest of Ilminster and 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Chard, not the Peasmarsh in East Sussex. The ground there lies at roughly 50 meters (164 feet) above sea level.

Donyatt parish, Peasmarsh included, had 401 residents at the 2021 census. The village church of St Mary is a 15th-century rebuild of an earlier building, with a rector on record from 1255, and the village was once known for its pottery: Donyatt ware has been identified at five sites in Virginia and Maryland.

A caption in the corner of the owl picture reads “Dickie & Delilah”, which appears to be the channel’s name for its pair. The box is busiest from spring laying to summer fledging. Outside the breeding season it works as a daytime roost: in early November an owl roosted in it from morning to afternoon on one day and was away on others. Barn owls stay in the same patch of countryside all year, unlike the swallows that nest in farm buildings across Britain each summer and winter in southern Africa, a route traced on our bird migration map.

The blue tit box on the second tab keeps a shorter calendar. Blue tits start looking for a nest site from February and lay 8 to 10 eggs, incubated for about 12 days, and the box is normally empty from summer until the next spring. The channel’s note on that stream says it is awaiting this year’s new arrivals.

Weather and Climate in Peasmarsh

The nearest long-running Met Office station is at Yeovilton, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) to the northeast. Its 1991 to 2020 averages give January highs of about 9°C (48°F) and lows of 2°C (36°F), and July highs near 22°C (72°F) with lows around 12°C (54°F). Rainfall there averages about 730 millimeters (29 inches) a year. Reanalysis data for the hamlet itself shows spring warming slowly, with April highs around 13°C (55°F), and autumn staying mild, with October highs near 15°C (59°F), while October to December brings the most rain.

On this camera the seasons show mainly through light. In midwinter the day lasts only about 8 hours, so the box spends most of each 24 hours in infrared, while around the June solstice daylight stretches past 16 hours and the color picture runs from early morning into late evening. On bright days the sun through the entrance hole can wash out the right side of the frame, and an owl sitting in that glow shows up almost white.

Things to Do Near Peasmarsh

Ilminster, 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) to the northeast, takes its name from the River Isle. Its Minster, the Church of St Mary, is a Grade I listed Hamstone church from the 15th century with the Wadham tombs inside. Dillington House, at the eastern entrance to the town, is a 16th-century house that now runs as an arts venue. About 8 kilometers (5 miles) northeast of Peasmarsh, the National Trust’s Barrington Court is a Tudor manor restored in the 1920s, best known for gardens partly planted to a scheme by Gertrude Jekyll.

Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve lies about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) to the south, on the northeast edge of Chard. Owned by Somerset Council and free to enter, it mixes open water, woodland edge and wildflower meadows, with a circular walk of about 3.3 kilometers (2 miles). Just over the border in Dorset, Forde Abbey sets 30 acres (12 hectares) of gardens around a 12th-century monastery, about 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) from the hamlet.

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Perguntas frequentes

Where is the Peasmarsh Barn Owl Webcam?

In an oak tree in Somerset, southwest England. The channel is named after Peasmarsh, a hamlet in the parish of Donyatt between Ilminster and Chard. The exact site is private and not published.

Is the Peasmarsh Owl Cam in East Sussex?

No. The East Sussex village of Peasmarsh shares the name, but the channel places its owl box in Somerset, and its YouTube handle says the same.

What can you see on the Peasmarsh Barn Owl Webcam?

The inside of a wooden barn owl box: the back and side walls, a floor scattered with debris and the bright entrance hole on the right. When an owl is home its white face and breast can fill much of the picture. A clock runs in the top left corner, and the second tab looks down into a blue tit box.

Why is the Peasmarsh Barn Owl Webcam nest box empty?

Barn owls do not spend every hour in their box. Eggs and owlets are only there from spring laying to summer fledging, usually April or May to July or August. The rest of the year the box is a roost the owls use on some days and not others, so an empty box, especially at night when they are out hunting, is normal.

When do barn owls lay eggs in England?

Most UK barn owls lay four to six eggs in April or May, though in a good year for prey some start in March. Incubation takes about 31 to 32 days, and the young fledge at around 7 to 10 weeks old, mostly in July or August.

When do the blue tits use the nest box?

Only in spring and early summer. Blue tits typically lay in late April or May, and the chicks fledge 16 to 22 days after hatching, usually by early June. They raise one brood a year, so the box is normally empty from summer until the next spring.

What is the weather like in Peasmarsh?

Mild and fairly wet. Yeovilton, the nearest Met Office station, averages January highs of about 9°C (48°F) and July highs near 22°C (72°F), with about 730 millimeters (29 inches) of rain a year.

Source: Peasmarsh Owl Cam