TWO tawny owl chicks whose arrival I had been eagerly waiting to watch on my nest cameras, tragically failed to hatch.

The loss was heart-breaking to witness, especially since I could hear the mournful calls of the parent owls via my microphones.

As I grieved their loss, I was joined by fans from around the world who also follow the lives of this owl pair via a livestream of my cameras on YouTube.

Tawny owls are very secretive, and I’ve only managed to persuade these birds to raise their chicks inside a nest in which I have secreted cameras a handful of times before.

Last year, just when the pair seemed intent on laying their eggs in one of my bespoke nest boxes, they changed their minds at the last moment and raised their chicks off camera.

Sadly, this owl species only tends to lay one clutch a year, so it will probably be next year before I get the chance to watch them raise their chicks again.

The story of Luna and Bomber, as this pair were nicknamed, captured hearts on my YouTube channel due to Bomber’s feisty character.

He was well known for dive-bombing any other bird of prey that dare enter his territory here at Fotherdale Farm in Thixendale.

Viewers on the livestreams often witnessed him knocking kestrels and barn owls to the ground. One barn owl, named Grete, has a snapped tail feather after falling foul of one of Bomber’s attacks. And even the stoats here know not to get too close!

But despite his ferocity, Bomber is a lovable character. Recognisable by a dark stripe of feathers on his face and his beautiful ginger colouring, he is a very handsome bird.

He is also a tender parent. Last year, he and Luna raised six chicks in the valley below my gallery. Two of these were rescued owlets, named Eric and Ernie, whom I introduced to the nest.

Once they were old enough to swallow their food whole, Bomber took on the role of feeding these chicks and could be seen bringing them snacks in the trees around my studio long after they had fledged.

This year Bomber and Luna began their courtship as soon as these chicks had flown the territory and by new year it was possible to hear them gently crooning as they preened one another via cameras inside their chosen nest box.

As January unfolded, the pair began working together to ready their nest. Bomber seemed to be preoccupied with restorations to the entrance, forever wobbling then making good a loose section of wood. Meanwhile Luna spent her time tidying up the floor, removing small twigs and breaking up hard clods created by old pellets.

Then Luna dug a shallow indent into the floor of the box, a sign she was preparing to lay eggs.

Owls carefully prepare their scrape over several weeks before they lay. It is as if they are trying them out for optimal positioning and comfort.

So, I was surprised when hours after this initial scrape she settled down and laid her first egg. It was still January, and unusually early even for a tawny owl to lay.

The egg laying process is quite arduous for birds, this one took a couple of hours of effort to be delivered.

Precisely 66 hours later, Luna laid her second egg - this time with Bomber hooting alongside her to provide moral support.

Throughout February, she sat tight on the clutch, leaving the eggs only for occasional 10 minutes to feed and stretch her wings.

But then the weather turned raw and temperatures dropped to -14C. As the countryside disappeared under a deep layer of snow, I grew worried for this tawny owl family.

So when, on February 27, a month after the eggs were laid, the first chick died during the effort of hatching, and the second failed to hatch at all, it felt so sad.

I won’t ever know for sure why the chicks failed to hatch, but I suspect the fact that the eggs were laid so early and that we then had a bitterly cold spell may have had something to do with it.

Nature can be cruel sometimes. But it can also be beautiful, and as I write this I’m already watching a pair of barn owls preening and preparing a possible nest site for the breeding season.

If all goes well this pair, as well as some kestrels, will lay their eggs by the end of this month and me and my YouTube fans will be able to follow their stories via my livestream.

* Robert Fuller has released a new film about tawny owls Bomber & Luna on his YouTube channel. To watch it, and to see the barn owls and kestrels live, tune to ‘Robert E Fuller’.