Yes, there really are five owlets. After I and two other people had marched round and round the Tawny Owls' nest tree and found just the usual gang of four, I came back an hour later and found that a fifth one could be seen near the top of the tree, but only from a distance because of the leaves. I came back to the tree and made absolutely sure that the original four were still together, and the new sighting was not just caused by one of them moving.

This is the first time that the Tawny Owls have had five young. They have been nesting in the same tree for at least six years, and have always had four or three before.

There is a Treecreeper's nest in a dead tree a few yards southeast of the Speke obelisk, Google map reference 51.508783,-0.178598. The birds were carrying twigs and fluff into a hole under a piece of peeling bark.