A Visit From Our Vet- Meerkat Microchipping and Raptor Rehabilitation

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are pleased to have a large collection of birds and animals covering a variety of species, in addition to running our wild Raptor Hospital. This also means that we have a lot of animals to make sure are always in the best of health. To help us with this, we are incredibly fortunate to have Zoo and Wildlife Vet Dr Elliott Simpson- Brown as our on call veterinarian, who routinely visits the centre to have a look at any birds or animals we have concerns about. 

Microchipping Our Meerkats

The main purpose of Elliott’s most recent visit to the sanctuary was to microchip our mob of Meerkats - this will help us to identify them when necessary as they all look incredibly alike! Our Hospital Lead Dolly, Avian Trainer Izzy, and vet student Krithi, were all present to help Elliott with the Meerkat catching and assist with their health checks. 

The Meerkats were separated into a smaller area of their enclosure to try to make securing them a little easier. Each Meerkat was carefully put under anaesthesia to allow a thorough health check; Elliott started by assessing their body condition, confirming their sex, and taking their weight. Krithi then helped to perform a dental check-up, before we finally implanted the microchip and placed them carefully back into their enclosure to come round slowly.

Raptor Rehabilitation

After health checking our Meerkats we made our way to the Raptor Hospital to check on a few of our patients. Just as we were finishing up, with perfect timing, a member of the public arrived with an injured Barn Owl. The owl was found weak and struggling to sustain flight, but after a thorough assessment from Elliott and Krithi, thankfully no injuries were found. Elliott administered fluids and the owl was placed in a quiet rehabilitation cage to recuperate.

Welcoming Veterinary Students

We’re always happy to welcome veterinary students for placements, allowing them to gain practical experience with wildlife and exotic species. Krithi Muli, a fifth-year veterinary medicine student from Cambridge University, had contacted us in advance to gain experience working with exotic species and was a valuable part of the team throughout the visit.

If you're a student interested in a placement, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our volunteer coordinator, by emailing beckie@owlhelp.org.uk. Be sure to include details of your current course and the reason for your interest.

Please note, due to the risk of avian flu, we may have to restrict placements during certain periods or limit the scope of what we can offer.

A Successful Morning!

Thanks to the whole team involved, the morning was a success, with the Meerkat mob microchipped and being given a clean bill of health.

Furthermore, in time, the Barn Owl that was brought into the raptor hospital during our vet visit went on to make a full recovery; over the following weeks it regained strength, built great fitness, and was eventually released back into the wild where it was found. This highlights some of the important work we do, and we’d like to extend a huge thank you to Dr. Elliott Simpson-Brown, as we truly couldn’t do any of it without his continued expertise and support.

📝 Hospital Lead Dolly Cook 

📷 Izzy Baker & Dolly Cook

National Hedgehog Day 2025

The European Hedgehog (Erinacaeus europaeus) is one of about 19 hedgehog species worldwide and is unmistakable as the only spiny mammal in Britain. Their highly specialised coat contains 5000 to 7000 brown and cream spines. They have long snouts and no spines on their underbellies, faces or limbs. They are one of our best-loved mammals, and like to spend much of their lives asleep.

European hedgehogs were once a common sight across Europe, but are declining in population. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has upgraded their status on its Red List to “Near Threatened”.

As the most secretive animals at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, and one that you are unlikely to see, we thought we would introduce you to these nocturnal residents, the work we do and how you can help hedgehogs.

We work in partnership with Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue (www.suffolkprickles.org), a local charity that work tirelessly to rescue and rehabilitate hedgehogs, with the aim of releasing them back into the wild wherever possible. Hedgehogs that come to us will be kept for a certain period of time, weights and general health will be monitored and they will have 24/7 indoor and outdoor access. Once Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue are satisfied with individual hedgehogs, they will be soft released, usually back into their home range if considered suitable. 

We are currently in the process of upgrading facilities for our hedgehogs. In addition to improving our indoor areas, we are doubling the size of the outside runs, and filling them with log piles and grassy areas, to encourage natural behaviours. As part of our collaboration with Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue, the hedgehogs that arrive at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary are kept short term, either to hibernate over the winter, or to regain health and sufficient weight before being released back into suitable home ranges. As part of a soft release programme, the accommodation and extra outdoor space will allow these spiky residents to explore and search for small invertebrates, before they are released into the wild.

 

How Can We Help Hedgehogs?

CREATE ACCESS HOLES - A 13cm hole beneath a fence allows hedgehogs to move between gardens and roam greater distances.

PLANT A HEDGE - Hedgehogs forage among fallen leaves, hibernate , raise their young, and can move around more safely.

MAKE PONDS SAFE - Ensure your pond has sloping sides, or place a log at one end to act as a ladder.

CHECK BEFORE STRIMMING - To prevent injury or killing a sleeping hedgehog, check your long grass before using your strimmer.

AVOID USING SLUG PELLETS - Conventional slug pellets contain metaldehyde, which is lethal to hedgehogs

GROW NATIVE PLANTS - Hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose and honeysuckle are caterpillar food plants for a range of moth species which lay eggs on the leaves. Most moth caterpillars will descend to the ground to pupate before becoming an adult, where they then become a food source for passing hedgehogs.

MAKE A HEDGEHOG HOUSE - Make or buy a hedgehog house, and place it in a quiet part of the garden.

CREATE A PILE OF LEAVES AND TWIGS - This could make an ideal hedgehog habitat and will also serve to attract small invertebrates which will attract food. Hedgehogs will also use leaves and twigs to line their nests elsewhere.

MAKE A LOG CORNER - A log pile will help to attract bugs and other insects, but could also provide a safe home for a hedgehog

PROVIDE ACCESS TO FRESH WATER - A shallow dish of water can be vital in hot weather.

GET INVOLVED - Get involved by learning more from organisations such as The Wildlife Trust (www.wildlife.org), and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. (www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk). For any of our supporters that would like to donate food for the hedgehogs, please see our Amazon Wishlist, or feel free to drop off tins of cat/dog food or kitten biscuits at the entrance shop. Hedgehogs can go through a lot of food. All donations will be greatly received.

📝 Animal Keeper Luke Johnson

How to Help Birds this Winter

With the temperatures dropping and resources running low it’s the most important time of year to ensure we are helping our native garden bird species. Read on to find out the best ways to help them through winter.

Provide Shelter

With the cold winds picking up and the days with rainfall increasing garden birds need somewhere to shelter from the elements. One great way to provide this is putting up nest boxes in your garden. There are plenty of types for different bird species or you could even build your own.

Another great way to provide shelter for birds is by planting dense hedges such as Hawthorn or Privet; or simply allow any Ivy or Holly to grow without being cut back. Small birds love to use vegetation to roost and shelter in.

Keep Water & Food Fresh

Garden birds need access to fresh drinking and bathing water all year round, even in the cold weather, so try your best to keep your bird bath clean and ice-free.

Keeping any bird feeders in your garden clean is also important, as it helps to reduce the spread of disease. The RSPB recommends cleaning them once a week with washing-up liquid. Also, make sure any web or mouldy seed is thrown away to avoid making the birds in your garden unwell.

Prepare a Bird Buffet

When it’s very cold birds require more energy to stay warm; but resources run low in winter making it harder for our garden birds to find enough food to survive. By offering a variety of calorie-rich food such as mixed seed, peanuts, fat balls and fruits we can help our native species get through these harsh months.

It’s important though to make sure anything we leave out for our garden birds is safe. We should NOT leave out: bread, milk, salted or dry roasted peanuts, chocolate or cooked leftovers.

One final thing to remember is that if you are going away during the winter months please ask a neighbour to feed the birds in your garden. The birds living in and around our gardens become used to and reliant on the food we provide them; the food source suddenly stopping can put them at risk.

If you are looking for where to buy food for the wild birds and animals in your garden check out Ark Wildlife as they have a fantastic range of options.

https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/

For Eve – Autumn Days.

A big thank you to Sue who sent us this lovely poem along with a very kind donation to the sanctuary. Thank you to Sue and all of our loyal supporters who allow us to continue our vital conservation work through the Owl Box Project and Raptor Hospital.

A Brief Summary of the History of Falconry

Falconry is defined as ‘the keeping and training of falcons or other birds of prey; the sport of hunting with such birds’. Falconry has a long history dating back to at least 1700BC where it’s believed to have originated in Central Asia. Originally Falconry was simply used as a way of putting food on the table but as it spread across the Middle East, East Asia and Europe it became popular with those within the aristocracy.

Within Europe, Falconry and the species flown became an indication of the persons status; one example of this is Henry VIII who was an avid falconer himself using a Gyrfalcon. The following is a list from ‘The Boke of St. Albans’ published 1486; showing which bird could be flown by each rank.

Emperor – Eagle or Vulture
King- Gyrfalcon
Prince – Peregrine Falcon
Duke – Falcon of the Rock (another name for Peregrine)
Knight – Saker or Sakeret
Squire – Lanner or Lanneret
Lady – Merlin
Youngman – Hobby
Yeoman – Goshawk
Priest – Sparrowhawk
Holy water Clerk – Musket (Male Sparrowhawk)
Knave/ Servant – Kestrel

The "Book of Saint Albans," is one of the earliest texts dedicated to falconry. It detailed the types of birds, methods of training, and ethical considerations of hunting. This era also saw the rise of various hunting festivals and competitions.

 

Falconry Across the World

In ancient Egypt, falcons were revered, often associated with the sun god Horus. The Egyptians trained birds such as the peregrine falcon and the hooded falcon for hunting, and their depictions in art emphasise the status of falconers in society.  

Falconry is also an icon of Arabian culture. The saker falcon used by Arabs for falconry is called by Arabs "Hur" which means ‘free bird’ and it has been used in falconry in the Arabian Peninsula since ancient times. Saker falcons are the national bird of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Yemen and have been integral to Arab heritage and culture for over 9,000 years.

Mongolian eagle hunting, or "berkutchi," is a traditional practice that dates back centuries in Mongolia, particularly among the nomadic Kazakh people in the Altai Mountains. This ancient form of hunting involves training golden eagles to capture prey, such as foxes and rabbits.

 

Modern Day Falconry

The invention of firearms in the 16th century led to a significant decline in the popularity of falconry as a primary means of hunting. As game became easier to kill with guns, the intricate skills of falconry began to fade into the background. However, the art never completely disappeared. It was preserved in certain cultures and eventually saw a revival in the 19th century.

This resurgence was fuelled by a growing interest in traditional practices and conservation. The establishment of falconry clubs and associations helped to revive techniques and promote ethical hunting practices. Today, falconry is recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, celebrating its significance in various cultures around the world.

Falconry practices have evolved into the modern-day avian training techniques which we now use here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. The focus has moved onto the ethics of training birds; giving the animals choice and control and training with positive reinforcement techniques.  

Red Squirrel Awareness Week

September has been a busy month for our red squirrels here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. Our first three squirrels have settled in well, and are becoming bolder and more adventurous as the days go by. Its an absolute delight to see them busy caching their hazelnuts, and chasing each other across the top of their enclosure. The final two enclosures are near completion, and we will be working hard to get these ready for new furry occupants soon.

We started the month with some very generous donations from two garden centres - Katie’s Garden Plant Centre https://www.katiesgarden.co.uk, and Bypass Nurseries Garden Centre. https://bypassnurseries.co.uk. Thank you to these fantastic local businesses. Their donations will allow us to continue planting up our enclosures, and be able to offer seasonal browse to our squirrels.

On the 5th of September we attended the Red Squirrel Husbandry Workshop at Wildwood Devon. This was a chance to meet with other Red Squirrel keepers, and share ideas and expertise. We spent the day listening to different talks, and even had the chance to examine an old squirrel drey (the nest of a squirrel), and count the number of twigs taken to construct it- 477.

As we move into Autumn, we will be taking part in Red Squirrel Awareness Week from Monday, 30 September - Sunday, 06 October. Join us for daily talks at 12.30pm at our new squirrel enclosures, and learn all about these fascinating creatures.

Did you know?

The name Squirrel originates from Latin, meaning ‘little shadow tail’.

Squirrels are divided into three groups - ground squirrels, flying squirrels, and arboreal/tree squirrels. Red squirrels are tree squirrels.

Squirrels can hide thousands of individual food items throughout the year, and remember where most of these are hidden.

 

We will also be running a Name the Red Squirrels competition, and be looking for name suggestions to name our first three red squirrels, so please keep an eye on our socials. 

Come along this week and celebrate all things Red Squirrel with us. We will be running a themed trail, an activity and colouring table, and our Name the Red Squirrels competition.

✍️ 📷 Animal Keeper Luke

📷 Liam Austin

International Vulture Awareness Day 2024

A big thank you to everyone who donated and visited us during International Vulture Awareness Day this year; it made for an amazing weekend! IVAD is an important day to the team at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary; it puts a spotlight on the highly important yet misunderstood Vultures. Every year across the world hundreds of organisers and thousands of participants celebrate Vultures and give these under appreciated animals a voice and push for their conservation.

Education Station

Visitors had the opportunity to learn about Vultures and the Endangered Wildlife Trust at our Education Station; it was manned throughout the day by our incredible staff and volunteers. The table included feathers from our Vultures and weighted sacks so visitors could feel the weight of different Vulture species.

The definite highlight of the weekend was the Vultures appearances in the Flying Displays. There is no better way to inspire people to care about the conservation of Vultures than to see them in flight!

Jack, Rose and Toto the Hooded Vultures

Why do Vultures need our protection? Vulture numbers are declining at an alarming rate with 70% of Vulture species already classified as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered; this makes Vultures one of the most threatened groups of birds in the world. Vultures face the challenges of habitat loss, poisonings and the illegal wildlife trade. Vultures are often poisoned by poachers who don’t want the circling Vultures to draw attention to them after they have poached a larger animal; for a while this is how the authorities would catch poachers in the act. The most recent mass poisoning event took place in 2022 and it claimed the lives of 108 Endangered Vultures.

The extinction of Vultures would not only impact them but it will also have a detrimental knock-on effect for the wider ecosystem. Vultures play a key part of nature’s cleanup crew; preserving the balance of the environment, disposing of carcasses and preventing the spread of disease.

This year for International Vulture Awareness Day, Suffolk Owl Sanctuary chose to raise money for the Endangered Wildlife Trust; they are the fantastic organisation who run the ‘Vultures for Africa’ programme. The EWT protects Vultures in so many ways including their Vulture Ambulance; it remains stationed within high-poisoning-risk areas and means that if a mass poisoning takes place they can respond quickly. The ambulance is equipped with everything needed to rapidly and successfully rescue, stabilise, treat and transport birds which have survived the poisoning; significantly increasing the number of birds which survive these catastrophic events. The EWT do incredible conservation work so please read more about what they do to help Vultures here: https://ewt.org.za/what-we-do/saving-species/vultures/

Vulture Ambulance

It’s equipped with everything needed to rescue, treat and transport Vultures which have been victims of a mass poisoning.

Grand Total

We are proud to announce that this year we were able to raise an amazing £865 for the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s ‘Vultures for Africa’ programme. Thank you to all the visitors, volunteers and staff who made this possible.

Winter guests released

For the past few years we have worked with Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue to provide a safe space for Hedgehogs in their care to spend the last few weeks of their rehabilitation process before release.

Over the past winter, we housed four Hedgehogs in our Hedgehog Hotel. These hogs had all been unable to reach the required weight to successfully hibernate through the colder winter months. In our care, they were provided with a supply of food and water, but also given the opportunity to display natural behaviours, such as nest building and foraging for insects in the outdoor runs.

With spring now firmly here (despite the weather!), these hedgehogs were collected by Paula, who carried out a final health check on them before arranging for them to be returned to their home territories.

We are proud to be able to support Suffolk Prickles and look forward to helping them with another group of Hedgehogs soon.

Why no Owls???

Towards the end of 2021, with Avian Influenza cases increasing around the UK, we heard a rumour of new guidelines regarding the care and welfare of birds of prey. Our own Avian Specialist Consultant Vet, Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown, MRCVS, was on the panel advising DEFRA on updating the best practice for collections that keep birds of prey. These included diet, accommodation, healthcare and training, with a much greater emphasis on reducing stress and improving bird wellbeing.

As a result of these upcoming changes, we built new aviaries to allow us to free-loft our Flying Team and reduce the use of tethering.

We also made the decision to stop transporting our birds for off-site visits. There were many reasons for this, including not wanting to tether birds into their travel boxes, not being able to control the environment we were taking the birds into, and with most of our School Owls nearing retirement, we didn’t see it as fair to train young birds for this practice.

Our Education Officer, Susan, set about developing new activities to ensure that schools could still book an engaging and interactive educational visit from our team. This included our popular Pellet Detectives session, Food Chains Game, Habitats Packing Activity and many more.

In 2021, our Education team made several local outreach visits with our birds, but this changed in January 2022.

Susan notes “between starting at SOS in 2020 and the end of 2021 when we stopped taking birds into schools, we obviously didn’t have that many bookings due to Covid. However, it has been really noticeable that the feedback we’ve received since then has helped to support the findings of several research papers into the use of Ambassador Animals for Conservation Education.”

The use of animals to aid and support education has long been considered the done thing, with Zoos expected to attend schools and community events with a small menagerie for students and visitors to enjoy meeting, stroking or holding. However, more collections have now moved away from using vertebrates (most commonly birds, mammals, reptiles) as ambassador animals, in line with increased awareness of animal welfare and wellbeing. With captive animals always in the spotlight from those who believe all animals should be free, we face higher scrutiny than ever. We have always put our birds first, but for the reasons stated above, we could not always guarantee that they would not face some stress or risks during these off site visits.

Our new outreach visits include interactive presentations, games and activities to help students learn.

Over the past few years, a number of studies have been carried out on the use of ambassador animals for education, and of most interest to Susan is that pupils retain information better when there isn’t an animal present. “When we used to visit schools with the birds, the feedback would be “the children loved seeing the owl”, whereas feedback now tends to concentrate on what activities the children did, or what facts they learned.”

Research into this is still very sparse, with very few studies concentrating on formal education (pre-booked workshops delivered to schools and groups) and utilising control groups. This is something that many agree needs to be addressed, and it is hoped that as a result of recent publications, it may lead to more research into this field.

If you are a student with an interest in carrying out research such as this, please contact our Education Team on education@owlhelp.org.uk



We would like to thank Tarryn Basden for supplying us with her Literature Review on this topic, which led us to the following references for further information:

Baird, B. A. (2018). Ambassador Animal Welfare: Using Behavioral and Physiological Indicators to Assess the Well-Being of Animals Used for Education Programs in Zoos [Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2427501023/abstract/2D47E9A606474E9APQ/1

Clifford-Clarke, M. M., Whitehouse-Tedd, K., & Ellis, C. F. (2021). Conservation Education Impacts of Animal Ambassadors in Zoos. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 3(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg3010001

Mori, B. de, Ferrante, L., Florio, D., Macchi, E., Pollastri, I., & Normando, S. (2019). A Protocol for the Ethical Assessment of Wild Animal-Visitor Interactions (AVIP) Evaluating Animal Welfare, Education, and Conservation Outcomes. Animals: An Open Access Journal from MDPI, 9(8), E487. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080487

Moss, A., & Esson, M. (2013). The Educational Claims of Zoos: Where Do We Go from Here? Zoo Biology, 32(1), 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21025

Priestley, C., Jaensch, S., & McLeod, E. M. (2023). Evaluating the effectiveness of welfare-focused animal encounters to deliver education programs. International Zoo Educators Association Journal, 59, 69–76.

Spooner, S. L., Farnworth, M. J., Ward, S. J., & Whitehouse-Tedd, K. M. (2021). Conservation Education: Are Zoo Animals Effective Ambassadors and Is There Any Cost to Their Welfare? Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 2(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg2010004







British Science Week 2024

Most of our activity here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is linked to science in some way. So we feel it’s important to be a part of British Science Week to encourage children (and adults) to consider Science as a viable career.

This year, our team worked with multiple groups to deliver a variety of sessions, really showcasing what we can offer!

Pellet Detectives as a lunchtime activity

On Friday 8th and Monday 11th, our Education Officer, Susan, delivered Virtual Sessions to Smithdon High School, Hertfordshire, and Kingsbrook Academy, Norfolk, on Careers in Conservation. These sessions were provided free of charge as part of our involvement with STEMpoint, who support schools to connect with STEM ambassadors to deliver engaging and interactive workshops for pupils. Susan provided the groups with an insight into the various roles available within an animal collection, some top tips on how to make a CV stand out, and a few alternative roles linked to our work.

On Tuesday, Susan attended the Royal Hospital School, Ipswich, to deliver a lunchtime Pellet Detectives session for their students. Over the course of 45 minutes, about 50 students came into the hall to find out more, with a number of them risking being late for afternoon registration due to their fascination by the activity.

On Wednesday, and in contrast to our Education themed activities this week, Susan delivered a talk about the work of Suffolk Owl Sanctuary to the Athenaeum Club in Bury St Edmunds. The group learnt more about our work, with particular focus on our Raptor Hospital and Nest Box project. Despite technical issues with the planned presentation, the group enjoyed the low-tech talk and the opportunity to handle some biofacts to illustrate some of the points. There was time for questions at the end, and the group are hoping to organise an in-person visit over the summer months.

Bandit gave plenty of close up flights

On Thursday, the Education Team ran multiple activities for Houldsworth Primary School, Newmarket. With such a large group visit, it was all hands on deck to help. Upon arrival, half of the group enjoyed a Guided Walk with Susan and Emily, while the other half joined Bee and work experience student Bella in SOS2 for Pellet Detectives. They came together for the Meerkat talk, then swapped, with Dolly joining Bella to run Pellet Detectives and Bee taking over from Emily on the guided walk. After lunch, the group watched a Flying Display, featuring Taz our Great Grey Owl, Lulu our Lanner Falcon and Kruger our MacKinders Eagle Owl. This visit was to enhance their learning All About Owls as part of reading Skellig in class.




And finally, on Friday Susan and Bella ran the final instalment of our Raptor Factors course for Home Ed families. The morning group enjoyed learning all about Raptor Rescue, including having a go at tracking down a captive bird that had “flown off” and “rescuing” an Owl that found itself in need of assistance. The afternoon group, having previously attended a Raptor Rescue session, got messy with making some Easter themed enrichment for our animals. We then delivered some pre-made enrichment to the Meerkats before watching Melvyn our Harris’s Hawk take to the skies. During the enrichment giving and flying display, the group were encouraged to make behavioural observations

Enrichment making allows for creative and messy fun!

The Education Team are preparing for a busy summer, with some new arrivals due soon which will allow new sessions to take place, covering different topics suitable for all ages and abilities.

Lizzy the Tangled Tawny Owl

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are always ready to assist other wildlife rescuers who need our specialist skills, facilities and expertise to care for wild raptors. We recently received a call from Wildlife Rescue Service, who had a Tawny Owl in need of help.

The unfortunately Owl was found entangled in a discarded kite string high up in some trees on the grounds of St Elizabeth’s School. It was hanging by one wing and was clearly exhausted by the time the rescue team arrived. Jo and Phil had to quickly come up with a plan on how to reach and extract the Owl. Using a long cutting pole, they were able to cut the string from the trees, then carefully lower the owl to the ground via one of the branches, as the string was tightly wound around the Owls feet as well.



Lizzy was transported to us the next day and was immediately taken for an X-ray due to the droopy wing. Fortunately, no breaks were detected, so she was given pain relief for the soft tissue damage and placed in one of our smaller indoor cages for observations.

The team reported that she was very reluctant to eat, and had to assist feed twice daily to ensure that she didn’t lose condition. We hoped that moving Lizzy to an outdoor aviary after a few days may give her some confidence, as many birds find being indoors stressful. Whilst Lizzy showed that she was able to fly for short distances and reach some of the higher perches, she was still not able to feed herself, so has been brought back indoors so that we can more closely monitor her.



Update - following a check from our Avian Specialist Consultant Vet, Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown MRCVS has suggested that Lizzy just needs more time to recover from her ordeal, so for now she is recuperating under observation in our quiet area.



Volunteer Training

With everyone gearing up for hopefully another busy year, we offered some of our volunteer roles some training to help them support us.


Our Host Volunteers have been recruited to assist the Education Team with events and activities. They gathered for a full day of training, led by Education Officer Susan. The day started with a Guided Walk - this is something we already offer for pre-booked groups but Susan is keen to offer this during peak times for walk in visitors. A Guided Walk usually lasts about an hour, and can cover a specific topic, such as habitats, conservation or Owls. Alternatively, the Guide can ask the visitors which species they would like to learn more about. As such, it was important to cover all of our birds, so the training Guided Walk took about two and a half hours. During this time, Susan shared plenty of fun facts about the species we hold, the individual personalities of some of the birds and some personal stories. This combination seems to work well, and the volunteers received access to our species fact sheets at the end of the training so that they can go and do their own research.

After lunch, Susan allowed the volunteers to take part in our popular Pellet Detectives activity. This is usually run as a table-top activity when we attend events out in the community. The volunteers delved in and became just as engrossed in this activity as the children who usually participate. Susan demonstrated how to use the guides to identify the type of bone found, as well as the species it came from. She also shared some top tips on answering likely questions, such as where to find pellets and how to emphasise that it isn’t poo!

The day ended with an ideas sharing discussion from the volunteers on other ways we can raise awareness about SOS, and fundraising ideas.


Our Owlreach Volunteers were also offered a couple of training sessions run by Susan and Dolly, who runs our Raptor Hospital. These sessions covered handling, transporting and releasing protocols, as well as guidance on how to minimise risks to volunteers and birds. Dolly gave a demonstration on how to safely capture and contain a bird of prey, pointing out that the feet are the biggest risk and that if you can get close enough to throw a towel over the bird, it needs help! We also emphasised that birds do not need to be given any food or water, as this can cause more harm than good if given the wrong thing. There was opportunity for the volunteers to ask questions, which did raise some interesting discussion regarding health concerns and safe retrieval of birds.

We have recently changed some of our guidelines so the sessions gave us an opportunity to update the volunteers with our new guidelines.

The session ended with a tour of our Raptor Hospital and Dolly was able to give an explanation on what goes on once a bird is brought in to us. Susan then briefly explained the importance of ringing birds, and how combining our Hospital work with nest box monitoring is proving successful by recapturing released birds in the boxes.



Double release marks historic moment

Over the Christmas period, we received a Barn Owl from a local estate, which was found unable to fly in a field. We arranged for X-rays, which revealed a broken wing. After consulting with our specialist Avian vet, Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown MRCVS, it was decided to give the bird time for the bone to heal. Broken wings can often be very difficult for us to treat, as when they heal they often form a callous over the broken bone, which can be detrimental to flight.

X-ray showing a clean break

After a few weeks, the Barn Owl was showing signs of having recovered, and was moved to a slightly larger aviary where she demonstrated her flying ability hadn’t been compromised. She was ringed before release by the team.

Dolly with the Barn Owl ready for release

As the estate was near where our Education Officer lives, Susan called the finder to let them know that the Owl was ready for release and invited them to come along and see the bird go. Susan was surprised (and very excited!) to then receive an invitation to see another release scheduled for the same day!

Upon arrival, there was a large crowd of people gathered in an enclosed area with a large pond. This was to be the new home for a family of five Beavers, who had been relocated from Scotland by the Beaver Trust. A historic moment, as these are believed to be the first Beavers in Suffolk for over 400 years! The group were released into the enclosure and the youngsters quickly went about exploring the area, much to the delight of the onlookers! The mother was reluctant to leave her travel box and seemed quite content snuggled in the straw.

With some difficulty, Susan dragged herself away from the Beaver pool to release the Barn Owl, followed by the majority of the crowd! The finder informed Susan that the owl had been found by her son in the field at the back of the barn, and this looked like the perfect meadow for the release to take place.

The Barn Owl had been reluctant to go in the box, so Susan was expecting her to fly out as soon as the lid was lifted, but as the Beavers had demonstrated, some animals aren’t too keen on freedom. With the box open, the Barn Owl was seen to be napping in the corner. Gentle tapping didn’t stir her, neither did tilting the box. Eventually, Susan had no option but to pick her up, and sensing a breeze under her wings, she took off and flew beautifully over her meadow, with plenty of ooooohhhs and aaaaahs from the crowd.

Barn Owl heading back across the meadow. Photo credit Stuart Atkins Photography

With both releases deemed successful, Susan managed to chat with the farmer about their conservation plans. We look forward to working with the estate to install nest boxes for owls and kestrels in the future.

The location of this release is not being made public knowledge at this time to allow the family to settle in.

All release photos (Beaver/ Barn Owl) taken by Stuart Atkins Photography.

Lincoln stays with his best friend

Our visitors have been asking what has happened to one of our most popular birds. Lincoln our Bald Eagle has spent the best part of the last twelve months on “holiday” with his best friend Rufus. Rufus was our Senior Falconer for a number of years and built up a strong relationship of trust with Lincoln. When Rufus left us in 2022 to pursue another career, Lincoln became depressed. This made him difficult and dangerous for staff to work with.

Early in 2023, an agreement was made that Rufus would take Lincoln for a period on temporary loan to get him back into condition for flying. Lincoln settled into life with Rufus very well, and was soon displaying behaviours that are known to show how relaxed and calm the bird is, that he had very rarely shown whilst at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary,

Staff had long suspected that Lincoln found living in a busy Centre quite stressful, and this holiday seemed to prove this. Over the summer, Lincoln moulted most of his feathers (a natural process, and only done when they feel safe), and since then Rufus has been working with him to slowly gain his confidence when flying.

Several members of our team have been out on separate occasions to see Lincoln and Rufus, and all have reported how much happier Lincoln is. As such, and with the agreement of our Manager and Trustees, we have made the decision to allow Rufus to keep Lincoln on a permanent basis.

This decision was not taken lightly, as we know how popular Lincoln was to all of our visitors, particularly those with a connection to the US. However, as a conservation charity, we must put the long-term welfare and wellbeing of our birds and animals first.

We hope that our supporters and visitors will understand our reasons for this.




If there is any doubt remaining, please read this from Rufus:




Lincoln looking majestic as ever

“Lincoln is very special to me, I'm completely obsessed with him! When I decided to move on from the owl sanctuary after five years of working very closely with him it left a very large eagle sized hole and I missed him terribly. Birds pick people, unlike dogs who generally will like anyone who's kind to them, the more intelligent bird species find something in an individual and develop a preference. Particularly eagles especially if they are imprinted (human raised) like Lincoln. I'm in no way suggesting there are any emotions there for Lincoln but more a bond of respect and trust we built up over a number of years as I worked obsessively to improve his daily life, particularly the way in which he was flown. From an arena bird where he would fly low across the ground (or stomping around!) to learning how to soar and fly like his wild cousins. This new routine vastly improved his outlook and quality of life and some of his less appealing traits softened over time as he was truly able to express himself in a positive way.

When I received a call suggesting to have Lincoln at home on trial to help to improve his welfare as he appeared to be regressing, there was no question I wanted to help. I've worked with a vast array of spectacular bird species in my career but none of them come close to my relationship with Lincoln. There's something about him that "speaks" to me and I only ever want the best for him. We all had concerns about the impact that such a big change could have on him as he often doesn't react well to change! To help smooth the transition work began to ramp up his box training. Lincoln was occasionally boxed but he certainly wasn't used to travelling in vehicles so lots of time and effort was put into preparing him for this.

Once he was home and began to settle in, we were all taken aback at how well he was taking to his new life in the country! He seemed so much more relaxed, he would spend significant time sunbathing (something we rarely saw before). Previously Lincoln would often be on edge and reactive, it was well known he was highly strung and dominant and needed very careful handling but at home he was calm and quiet and interestingly needing a lot less food to maintain his condition which reinforces that he was less stressed and happier.

Work continued with his box training and we began the short journey to his new flying ground which incredibly he took in his stride. His new flying ground is many acres of open, beautiful Suffolk countryside with arable fields managed for conservation with some mixed woodland and views over a valley. Soon enough he began to fly free and found his favourite standing dead tree that he spends time resting in and surveying. He's very relaxed up there which is great to see. However, a couple of weeks into flying he launched into what I now refer to as a 'mega moult'! Seemingly over-night he dropped so many primary feathers he made himself virtually flightless! He had a gap of three missing feathers on one wing leaving me no choice but to give him some time off in his new aviary for a moult. The next four months saw him virtually explode! Replacing his entire tail, most of his primary feathers and endless body feathers too. This mega moult again appeared to reinforce how he feels about his new home.

Lincoln could barely fly during his “mega moult”

Lincoln is now free flying again, several days a week and he's doing incredibly well. He's taking on large exploratory flights over several fields, something he wouldn't do previously, and he's now starting to show promise in making the effort to gain height now that he's becoming fitter. Everything is looking good for some proper thermalling flights when the spring/summer warmth returns which is very exciting! When he's not flying, he's free lofted in his aviary and if he's having an off day and doesn't want to come out, he doesn't.

Lincoln's future is bright! He's a different bird with an exciting outlook. The plan is to continue to encourage proper soaring/thermalling flights over the Suffolk countryside and further unlock his potential. I turn 40 this year and receiving the offer to make the situation with Lincoln permanent was the best gift I could ever receive! As much as I dared to dream privately I didn't think it would ever become a permanent thing and as surreal as it is to have a bald eagle in the garden it most definitely feels right, for us both. It's not a decision either party took lightly but one that was so clearly in Lincoln’s best interests. We're both on our way to middle age now and all I want is to enjoy being with my most favourite bird. The commitment to Lincoln is huge but he encourages me to strike a better work/life balance and as my work is very flexible, I can make the time to fly him on days when the conditions are right. I feel very lucky. Onwards and upwards from here!”




Mary the Buzzard

As 2023 was drawing to a close, we received a call about a bird that needed our help.

This Buzzard was involved in a head on collision with a car. The person who hit her immediately called us and was asked to bring her in.

Upon arrival, she was covered in blood and we were concerned for a major break. However, after cleaning her up a bit, it became clear that the blood was coming from her beak. Unfortunately, the impact of the collision has snapped the tip of her beak, which is made of keratin (the same as our finger nails). It is very similar to dogs nails, with a “quick” a short distance from the tip to provide a blood supply to give it strength. As anyone has cut their dogs nails too short will know, if the quick is cut, it will bleed profusely! Thankfully, there is a magical medical solution to this and the team were quick to administer potassium permanganate to help clot the blood.

The team checked her over for other injuries but found none, so she was moved to a quiet cage in our Intensive Care Room and given pain relief. For the first few days, she needed assistance eating small pieces of cut up mouse, as the tip of her beak was clearly very painful, despite the pain relief. In order to avoid any risk of further injury during this procedure, the team wrapped her up in a towel. On her first day, a blue towel was produced, and she was nicknamed Mary.

Mary being held securely for assisted feeding while her beak is still painful.

After a few days, she still seemed reluctant to eat by herself, so Mary was moved to one of our outdoor aviaries where she’d have less disturbance. Staff tried her with whole mice, which she was unable to eat, so continued providing chopped up mouse every day.

After a few weeks in our care, she is making slow progress, but is now managing to eat slightly larger pieces of meat (half a mouse rather than a quarter!). The tip of a birds beak is incredibly sensitive, so we hope that given time it will heal and regrow naturally, without too much interference from us.

Piper the Tawny Owl

Unlike other jobs, our staff are always ready to help a bird in need out of normal working hours.


Here’s an interesting case that we have recently been looking after. Special thanks to Mike for sending us a detailed account of the rescue, and to our Manager Maz, who took care of the Owl overnight before bringing it in to the Hospital for further treatment.


“It was about 1 -2am in the morning when my wife was woken by , she said a scratching noise in the chimney, like all good husbands I assured her that it was probably mice in the roof and go back to sleep.

Some 5 – 6 days later with the cold snap upon us we decided to light the wood burner, When lighting we always put in paper and a small amount of sticks to make sure the flue is clear.  The flue was blocked as the smoke poured out and quickly extinguished itself, We have a soot door for cleaning the flue on the outside of the bungalow, so armed with my sweeps brushes decided to check the flue out. The soot door is situated about 600mm above the wood burner. No obstruction was found as I pushed the brush up the flue, therefore the logic being it was between the door and the wood burner itself. Just a rod was used and when a metallic clunk was heard I knew I had reached the wood burner. There appeared to be no blockage in the flue, Back inside to the wood burner itself. I removed the baffle plate to access the flue with a torch peered into the flue, my heart sank, there was a “ dead “ bird blocking the flue with plumage that I recognised as that of a Tawny owl. Armed with my wife’s marigolds I stretched in to drag the body out as I gripped it I felt a sharp pain in my hand, this “ dead “ bird had pecked me and ruined managements marigolds. At this moment the panic set in, if I tried to pull her through this opening, I would be sure to kill her. The only way to get her out was too rip out the burner and flue.

While I’m doing this, now with the help of my daughter and her partner, my wife contacted the owl sanctuary to be told that if we can get to Ipswich with the bird they would try and help.. With the bird still in the pipe, which stopped her flapping about, we raced off to Ipswich, where we were met by Maz.

Within moments the bird was out and being washed to remove the soot, the care and confidence with which the bird was handled was amazing, my be this is where Maz’s name came from. The bird was skinny bearing in mind it had been in there 5 – 6 days, but as luck would have it mice were being thawed as we arrived. Some things we all keep in the fridge just in case !

Don’t try this at home!

It is amazing the guilt we feel for what we did to Fleur, the nearest name my wife could find to flue We are now sporting a brand new bird proof terminal on the chimney and installing owl boxes around the garden so she has some where to live when she returns.

Thank you Maz and no doubt your long suffering husband”

The team nicknamed the Owl Piper, and are pleased to report she is doing well. Due to the length of time she was stuck in the flue, she was very thin and required a special solution to give her an energy boost. Maz did a fantastic job removing the soot from Piper’s feathers, but some had gone in her eyes, so the team have been treating her with special eye drops. These are doing their job and she is looking much better. We hope that Piper will be ready for release over the next week or so, and are very grateful to Mike and his family for providing her with an alternative place to roost!

Piper is receiving treatment for a sore eye, but this is improving every day.

Hospital updates

We’ve had a busy couple of months in the Hospital, so here are some of the birds that we’ve had in towards the end of the year. Check out our social media channels to see further updates.

Bo Jangles the Sparrowhawk

This young female Sparrowhawk was brought in with a bacterial growth in her mouth, She was in poor condition, suggesting that she had been unable to hunt after leaving her natal territory. After a course of treatment, the team decided that she was unlikely to survive if released immediately, so opted to “man” her, then train her to fly and eventually hunt before giving her freedom. Mat took on the challenge and was impressed with her feisty spirit. She has now been “in training” for a couple of months and doing very well, so Mat hopes to test her flying ability outside over the next few weeks. She has been fitted with breakaway equipment, so that if she does decide to fly off, the equipment will drop from her legs after a short time and pose no danger of entanglement.

Mat with Bo Jangles after her “ordeal” of being ringed.

In preparation for her first outdoor flights, Mat asked Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO if she could be ringed. Hugh has been supervising the ringing of our Hospital birds by our team, and Susan was fortunate to have the opportunity.

“I’ve ringed a few Sparrowhawks over the years, but it’s a bit different when they’re wearing equipment! We’ve had to make sure that the ring doesn’t interfere with the equipment, and that the equipment doesn’t rub against the ring. She was a very well behaved Sparrowhawk, although did protest vocally at having her wing measured.

Blinky Tawny Owl

Blinky was feeling a bit sorry for himself when he first arrived.

This young Tawny Owl was brought in having been found in a carpark. He had an eye injury and his left wing was also causing some concern. He’d also, somehow, managed to damage most of his tail feathers! Nicknamed Blinky by the journalist who was visiting at the time to do a piece about our work, he has made slow progress. His eye recovered fairly quickly, but his wing took a lot longer to heal itself due to it being soft tissue damage. He has now received a new tail and been moved to a larger aviary so that the team can monitor his flight and fitness in preparation for release.

Marsh Barn Owl

A sore wing for this Barn Owl

This Barn Owl was found unable to fly by a member of the public. There was no damage, so we administered pain relief and kept him in a quiet aviary for him to recover. Thankfully, it seems to have been bruising, as he was soon doing laps of his small aviary. In order to test his flight properly, we moved him into one of our larger aviaries and installed a camera trap to monitor his progress. He did really well, so was ringed before being released in December.


Pumpkin Spice Tawny Owl

This Tawny Owl was found entangled in netting and had sustained a broken toe. We administered pain relief and opted to monitor the healing. This proved successful and after a few weeks the bird was using the foot to pounce on food and carry it off to a higher perch. This bird was released just before Christmas near where he was found.


Barn Owls hack

We’ve had three late Barn Owlets this year, who have been released locally via one of our hack pens. Due to their young age and inexperience, we will continue to supplementary feed them throughout the winter. The farm where they have been released has a number of Barn Owl boxes nearby, and it’s hoped that they will disperse from the hack pen to take up permanent residence as pest control. Indeed, through our monitoring with trail cameras, we know that these birds are capable of hunting, as they frequently return to the empty feeding post with prey items.

Screenshot of one of the released Barn Owls bringing food back to the hack pen.


Tawny Owls hack

Over the autumn period, we had two Tawny Owls brought in, both with severe head trauma as a result of RTA’s. Once they had recovered they were placed in an outdoor aviary so that we could assess their fitness. With them both being young birds (hatched in 2023), we opted to put them into a hack pen together, so that they could build up fitness before release, and hopefully learn how to hunt. They were moved to a hack pen in a suitable location where we know there are plenty of rodents.

Two Tawnies settling in well to life in the woods

Barn Owl break

This Barn Owl came in over the Christmas period with an injured wing. X-rays confirmed a break but after consulting with our vets, we’ve opted to let it self heal. This bird is proving to be a fighter though, and is a bit of an escape artist, having got past the team twice when they opened the rehab cage door to put food in!

And the last bird of the year is a……

Barn Owl

This Barn Owl was found on a local estate in poor condition. They were picked up by our team and found to be starving, likely due to the bad weather preventing successful hunting. We administered a special liquid diet to slowly get them going again. After a few days of care, this Owl is now self feeding and will soon be ready for release.