IT was feathers at dawn as two birds of prey battled it out to claim ownership of a nesting box.

The battle was caught on camera as a kestrel and a barn owl stared each other down shortly before launching in to an attack in a bid to call the nesting box their own. 

After repeatedly lunging at each other, brandishing their talons and pecking with their beaks the barn owl was victorious as the kestrel was forced to leave the box and find a different home to nest in.

The whole fight was recorded in Robert Fuller’s garden in Thixendale. The wildlife artist had set up the camera inside the box, nestled in a 13ft tree, to capture footage of nesting birds and watch as their eggs hatch. However the box had been guarded by a pair of kestrels before a barn owl swooped in to try and claim the nesting box. 

The nesting camera is one of 12 secret cameras hidden in nest boxes in the grounds of Robert’s Thixendale art gallery and they are linked to TV screens inside the exhibition space as part of an Easter exhibition which will be shown until spring.

Lara Lambert, from the Robert Fuller Gallery said: “The cameras were set up to watch baby birds hatch and we have already seen two tiny tawny owlets hatch. This was an extra thing which we didn’t expect to happen, it was quite extraordinary.”

Barn owls, kestrels, robins, wrens, tree sparrows and a pheasant hen are all sitting on eggs waiting to hatch and visitors to the gallery can see the action as these baby birds hatch and follow their stories from the tiny tantrums to the messy meals.

The exhibition is at The Robert Fuller Gallery, Thixendale, and includes displays of real birds nests set against a backdrop of the artist’s detailed paintings of birds.

To see the latest action from the nest cams visit robertfuller.com