A bereaved owl whose calls for new love have gone unanswered has been dubbed the “UK’s loneliest owl” as he highlights the fragility of his species, according to the Soil Association.

Since January the male little owl has been calling out several times each day, hoping a passing female will hear his plea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrQ9foeHcnc&feature=youtu.be. But with the courting season now over, he is likely to spend the rest of the year alone.

The little owl – a species that has declined by up to 25 per cent since 1995 – lives on  Woodoaks Farm  in Hertfordshire which is raising money to help it protect wildlife. The farm is also on a mission to raise awareness about nature-friendly farming and just last week a crowdfunding effort raised the last £50,000 in a £2.5m project to build an education hub.

The little owl’s unanswered calls follow several other heartbreaks as he has lost two mates and their owlets since 2020 – the year that monitoring began and when the Soil Association charity started running the now-organic farm. 

Soil Association's Head of Woodoaks Rose Lewis said: “This might just be the UK’s loneliest owl – it is devastating to see him all alone calling out from his perch day after day, but getting no response. It just shows how fragile his population is, which is why we are so determined to do all we can to support nature across the whole farm.”
 * A series of heartbreaks for the Woodoaks little owl *
It was in 2020  when local expert Liam Edwards – one of two Liams that now run L&L Wildlife Monitoring – discovered the male and a female partner raising an owlet in a barn wall. 

But disaster struck and the owl was forced to solo parent after his mate sadly got caught on an old, barbed wire fence and was killed.
Despite it being rare for a male bird to raise young, the owl managed to successfully rear their owlet and at the end of the next year even managed to win the affections of another female.

The farm, which has been going through a transformation to convert to organic and restore hedgerows and woodland, hoped this would lead to happier times.

But the younger male has been causing his father heartbreak ever since.
Edwards said: “Usually when a pair of little owls raise their young, they turf their young out so they can go elsewhere and create their own territory. But what seems to have happened is that our male has not been able to chase his young out of the area on his own, so we’ve ended up with two males.”

Over the next two years leading to summer last year, the original male and his new partner managed to hatch three clutches of owlets in a nest box Liam installed with his business partner Liam Hale. 
But sadly, none have survived.

The chicks were predated with monitoring showing the younger male to have been raiding the nest and a likely culprit. Hot temperatures making the ground to dry for the owls to source enough worms is another possible cause.

Then just six months ago, in November 2024 heartbreak struck again as his female mate was found dead in an unexplained death.
Edwards added: “I’m not sure how she died, it’s really sad but there are so many things that can go wrong in nature. We were hoping we might have better luck this year and see a clutch of owlets succeed, but he has been calling and calling every day, and no female has come. When you observe nature, you keep your distance and try not get too attached, but I am rooting for him for the next season.” 

 * Nature-friendly farming with trees *

Since the farm was donated to the Soil Association by Sally Findlay, who still lives on the farm, the charity has converted it to organic status and planted around three kilometres of hedgerows.

This includes creating wildlife corridors in an agroforestry system where grass or crops can be grown between rows of trees – and the farm is even hosting the Agroforestry Show in September.

But even with all this work to create habitats, more work is needed including education to spread the message that species like the little owl need help, the Soil Association says.

Rose added: “We have amazing wildlife here in the UK and it desperately needs better protection. Species like little owls need habitats to connect to each other, it’s not enough to just have a small corner of a farm set aside for nature, you need to work with nature across the entire farm. That’s why we’ve converted to organic and agroforestry, with a huge effort to plant new hedgerows, but there’s still more we can do. Our next step is to convert our beautiful, listed buildings into an education hub so people can come and learn how it’s possible to produce good food in harmony with nature. The more we can spread this message, the better it will be for animals like our little owl.”
Woodoaks is looking for donations big and small to support their nature-friendly farming and education mission, which will also help with monitoring of wildlife like the little owl through cameras and volunteers. 

To support the farm, visit  https://woodoaksfarm.com/.