At the end of November we received a Tawny Owl who had been found stuck in a log burning stove. Cinders had flown down the freshly cleaned chimney and got himself stuck. Whilst he was fortunate it was a clean chimney and therefore didn’t have too much soot on his feathers, we discovered that he had sustained some damage to his feet and tail which needed to heal before being released.
He did really well in our Hospital aviaries, but we wanted to make sure he was ready, so just before Christmas he was moved to one of our local Hack Pens where he can build up muscle and hunting skills before his release. We have installed a camera trap to help monitor him and hope to open the door over the coming weeks.
Using camera traps in our hack pens allows us to remotely monitor the birds and see natural behaviours such as hunting for wild rodents that make their way into the pens (something the birds wouldn’t do if we were standing outside peering in). They are also crucial so we can check that the birds are able to move around in the larger space without any issues following their admission to the Raptor Hospital. After the pen is opened, the cameras can also be used to monitor if the birds are returning to their safe place for food or shelter, which often leads to interactions with other local wildlife. This means we know when the birds have dispersed and we can plan for the next occupants to move in.
With generous donations last year enabling us to build more hack pens, we are a bit short on devices to monitor all of our release sites. If you would like to help, we have a camera trap on our Wishlist. Alternatively, we will also accept Amazon gift cards/ vouchers of any value, which can be used to purchase this equipment (as we appreciate they are quite expensive to buy outright)