I am currently enjoying amazing views of both a tawny owl and a kestrel as they sit on clutches of eggs.

The images are relayed directly into my art studio from cameras hidden inside their nests in an old ash wood some distance from my gallery.

These cameras also pick up other wildlife visitors too, including little owls, badgers, roe deer and even a buzzard.

In fact, there is so much going on in this woodland I find it hard to drag myself away from the monitors in case I miss anything. Just now excitement is mounting because the tawny owl chicks are due to hatch any day.

I share the footage from ‘Ash Wood’, as I have inevitably named the woodland, on my YouTube Channel.

And I have discovered that people from all over the world tune in to watch. These fans are equally hooked, which is great because they log in at all times of day and comment on their sightings so I no longer miss too much.

I have wanted to put up nest boxes in this woodland ever since I spotted a pair of little owls there a few years ago. Then, in December last year, I decided not only to put up boxes for these owls, but also to develop the wood for all wildlife.

I began by digging a pond. Thixendale is a typical Yorkshire Wolds dry, chalk valley and there are few natural water sources nearby, so I knew a pond would mean the deer and badger would visit more often and hoped it would help also turn this woodland into a thriving habitat for all wildlife.

The nest boxes I built included one for a pair of little owls and others for tawny owls, kestrels, and barn owls I had spotted flitting through the woods on occasion.

Each box was bespoke, designed specifically to suit the needs of each species and made from old tree stumps or branches so that they looked as natural as possible.

Inside each, I hid cameras linked to my art studio so that I could keep an eye on the comings and goings in the woodland.

As I completed each box, I hoisted it into position, choosing different locations according to each species’ habits. This was no easy feat. My little owl box, for instance, weight 150ks and I had to winch it up using my car.

I got very excited, when just two days after placing the little owl box into position, a male little owl arrived to inspect it. Sadly, the pair chose to nest elsewhere, but not before I captured some beautiful footage of them both posed in the entrance of my bespoke box.

A second nesting box, made from a hollow log and named ‘Three Trees’ because it sits in the last tree in a line of three, was designed for a kestrel I had also spotted in Ash Wood.

But although this kestrel did look inside the box, he wasn’t quick enough to claim it and a female barn owl moved here instead.

As far as I am concerned, the more species I can attract to the woodland the better, so I set about building a new box for the kestrel. And within days of hoisting this new box up, which I named Ash Hollow since it is fashioned from a large hollow ash trunk, the male kestrel had claimed it.

I was delighted when shortly afterwards this kestrel brought in a mate and then, within weeks, she went on to lay inside Ash Hollow. This female has now laid five eggs, which are due to hatch at the end of June.

As for the tawny owl, her nest box was the first to be completed at Ash Wood and so it seems fitting that it is the first to house a nesting pair of owls.

Made from a natural hollow within an existing ash tree, I named this box Ash Tree. Unlike the boxes made in my workshop it was made by placing a piece of tree bark across the lower part of the opening.

This means there is quite a steep ascent to the entrance of the box, which will make it safer for the tawny owl chicks once they hatch.

These youngsters are notoriously adventurous and often try to hop out of the box before they can fly proficiently, but I hope this will contain them until they are ready.

And it won’t be long before they hatch out. I can’t wait. Just as I can’t wait to see the kestrel chicks hatch out and to find out how all the other animals of Ash Wood fare.

You can watch the tawny owl, kestrel and barn owl lives at Ash Wood on Robert’s YouTube Channel: Robert E Fuller or visit his gallery in Thixendale where you can see them live on screen.