Tuesday 26 October

It's lovely to wake up in the morning, peer through the bedroom curtains and see three chicks snuggling up to one another in the nest. We are a few metres away from them - a fact that never ceases to amaze me.

Pot Plant Owl has left her chicks all morning on their own. She's dozing by the garage roof - probably quite enjoying her 'down time' from the responsibilities of raising a family. Both her and Pappa work tirelessly throughout the night and early morning, delivering food to the chicks.

The chicks have got gorgeous 'owl faces' - like miniature adults. Their eyes and beaks now well-formed and prominent facial features, and there's no getting away from that piercing owl stare, which they have mastered. The biggest chick with the darker face has also got well-defined black eyebrows. The middle chick doesn't have them clearly visible.

The shortlist of names for the chicks should be up on the Africam website shortly. Please visit to cast your vote, so we can finally stop calling the bigger chicks - Chick #1 and Chick #2 etc.

We've had a lot of enquiries recently for our book on these owls. The stumbling block is the shipping / postage costs ex South Africa. At the suggestions / nagging of followers of Pot Plant Owl in the first season, we completed our coffee-table book, right at the worst economic time. When it was ready to go to print, we had no publishers willing to take it on because it was considered a 'specialist interest and high-cost book' (with the high-res, full-colour photos in it). We ended up self-publishing with the help of two incredible sponsors. The book has been very well-received in the press here in South Africa. However, because we have self-published, we have to use the traditional forms of shipping / postage, which are very expensive. Therefore, I'm asking that if there is anyone that might be able to assist with discounted shipping rates ex SA, please drop me an email - enquiries@potplantowl.co.za Thanks so much.