Attacked by Vandals

As you may have heard or seen on national radio and TV, we're sad to report the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary was attacked by vandals on Thursday evening last.

Breaking in through one of the perimeter hedges, the perpetrators used bolt cutters and brute force to cut off the security locks of 30 aviaries in an attempt to release the enclosed birds from their habitats. Luckily only a dozen birds flew off, with the remainder choosing to stay put in their familiar surroundings.

Manager Andy Hulme discovered the crime when he arrived for work at 8.30am on Friday, noticing one of the Snowy Owls sitting loose on a grassed area at the centre. A quick investigation revealed the magnitude of the damage, and the discovery of one of the released Eagles attacking a Harris Hawk on our flying ground. which was a distressing sight.

Andy & a policeman inspect the damage

Having separated and re-housed these two, our immediate thought was for the survival of the birds that had been set loose, because with one exception they were hand reared, non native species who would - without the immediate knowledge & experience of fending for themselves - find it difficult to survive in the wild for more than a few days without nourishment. Paradoxically our greatest fear was for one of our tiniest birds, Titch the Burrowing Owl, who as a very small desert-dwelling species would be unable to find a suitable diet even perchance and would also be subject to mobbing or attack by larger birds.

The locks of 30 aviaries were smashed and birds released

The media were soon to pick up on this aspect of the story and led with it as the main aspect of their reporting - "Free to Die" was one newspaper headline, followed by an article castigating the callousness of those who committed the act, and pre-supposing that should the vandals be activists, they were very ignorant ones.  

For our part, we think animal rights activists are unlikely to be behind the break-in, as in our experience they are usually well intentioned, have a considered knowledge of their targets and usually claim responsibility for their actions.  

Rather, we think that this was a case of willful vandalism by those who did not appreciate that they were putting the lives of the birds at risk, and we are just left to wonder how, when we spend so much of our time caring for injured birds and releasing them back to the wild, as well as erecting a network of nestboxes in the wild to help sustain non-captive populations of endangered species, anyone should single us out for attack.

Nevertheless we are pleased to report that throughout the last couple of days Andy and his team, aided and abetted by a number of volunteers who turned up at the Sanctuary to help, managed to retrieve 11 of the 12 escapees, the majority of who were found roosting in trees in the vicinity. Naturally, there was a whoop of delight when, around 5.30pm on Friday a very bedraggled and desolate Titch was found in a neighbouring copse by Matt, our sharp-eyed head falconer!

Titch was eventually found bedraggled but none the worst for wear…

Through Saturday & Sunday, our hunt went on for the missing bird, whilst the police continue to work with some possibly incriminating evidence they removed from the crime scene, to catch the criminals.

Meanwhile we would like to thank all of you who e-mailed or telephoned your support & commiseration's from all parts of the UK following the broadcast of the news in the afternoon; and also to our loyal workforce and band of volunteers who spent cold, wet & worried days out in the field trying to salvage the situation. You have done a marvellous job.

To the perpetrators, we say this: if you have issues about the work of the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and its activities and would like to discuss them, please contact us - we will be happy to illustrate and demonstrate (we are sure, to beyond reasonable doubt) that the work we do is valid, and that the destructive action taken by whoever wilfully let loose these birds did nothing the improve their quality of life or chances of survival - in fact, you did exactly the reverse.

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A Sticky Situation

An odd case of “Barn Owl Meets Fly Papers” - this mature bird fell down a chimney but in trying to find an exit, he encountered fly-papers - mayhem ensued! It took hours of skill & patience to disentangle his feathers without damage and he was released fit & well!

A Tiny Handful - this pair of Little Owls were released after attention

Meanwhile this pair of unrelated Little Owls were brought into S.O.S. separately - one with a leg so severely entangled in twine we thought at first amputation might be the only course of action. But it recovered in time and with the other - a foundling - both were ‘hacked back’ to their natural surroundings soon after.

Downy but not out - once he has matured, this young foundling will be released back to the wild

This Barn Owlet was found abandoned (if their chicks fall from their nest, adult Barn Owls will pay no further heed to their offspring and so they remain unfed) but we were able to resuscitate him - he is now fledging nicely and will soon be flying free.

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One Planet Living Award

We were very pleased to be the recipients of a special honour earlier this year when we received a grant under the B&Q One Planet Living Award Scheme. The scheme aims to help organisations across the UK which are working on projects that aim to enhance the local community and will help us build a sheltered observation station for visitors to the Sanctuary and gain some respite from the Suffolk Downpours! Seen here at the presentation centre are (right) Sir Michael Lord, M.P. for Central Suffolk together with (from left) Andy & Pungu our Bateleur Eagle; our good friends Dean & Denise from B&Q Ipswich and S.O.S. stalwart Marie Robinson who puts such a lot effort into our fundraising activities. Well done all!

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Waveney Owl Project Update

As reported in our blog earlier this year, SOS made a donation towards the purchase of nest boxes for erection throughout the Waveney Valley and Gipping Valley schemes organised by the Thornham Owl Project volunteer group.

Here one of their guiding lights, Roger Buxton, brings us up to date on progress:

“Box checking continued throughout June, with an additional two pairs of Tawny Owls fledging four chicks being found in Barn Owl boxes, making a total of fifteen Tawny chicks fledged from nine nest box sites.

There’s good news on the usage of Little Owl, in that two pairs have raised four chicks using the boxes we provided. There does appear to be a reluctance for Little Owls to use artificial nest sites, but this could be attributed to the availability of more natural nest sites in the area for this species of owl.

One of the Little Owls about to be put back into the nest after ringing

The checking of Barn Owl boxes continued into July. Eleven chicks and five adult birds have been ringed so far and there are a further nine sites which have eggs or very young chicks in them, which we will continue to monitor these. As in 2007, there are two pairs of owls nesting in boxes in the Gipping Valley, with the other boxes showing signs of being used as roosts.

Careful handling is required when ringing young Barn Owl chicks like this one

The bulk of our success seems to continue in the Waveney Valley, where two of the chicks we ringed last year are now breeding adult birds. However the breeding activity of Barn Owls here does appear to be very irregular this year, with a number of nest sites being abandoned. We suspect one of the possible reasons for this may be the rather cold and wet weather conditions that prevailed through most of June, which had a detrimental effect on the breeding activity of their main diet, the Vole.

Kestrel chicks ringed so far this year total twenty from eight nest box sites, with a further four boxes which have eggs or very young chicks in - we will continue to monitor these. Boxes designed primarily for Barn Owls continue to be used successfully by Kestrels.

Stock Doves also continue to use Barn Owl boxes and so far this year eighteen chicks have been ringed.”

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He comes from a land down under!

Three stages of Bookbook - from 1 week to 5 weeks

As regular readers of the blog will be aware, we have had a good breeding season at SOS this year and would like to introduce our latest member of the ‘team’ - one which adds another degree of international dimension to the Owls that reside here.

Auckland’ (or ‘Auckie’ as he is affectionately known) was hatched here at the centre in May and has proved to be quite a character. He is the second chick that our pair of Boobook Owls, Darwin and Tasmin have produced: his training went very well and he has already become a valued member of the display team.

Boobook Owls are native to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea - a small brown owl which is about as common as our own Tawny Owl in terms of numbers in the wild.

Bookbook Owls inhabit woodland areas and though especially favouring Eucalyptus plantations, can be found almost anywhere where there are trees including even in inner city parks. They primarily catch insects - either in flight, straight off the ground or by picking them from vegetation. The Boobook may also take small mammals such as mice, and even bats & birds up to the size of Sparrows. They will also take lizards basking in the early morning sun on rocks and tree trunks.

Getting its name from the distinct “boo - book” call it makes, Boobooks breed between August to October, building nests in tree cavities. They lay 2 - 3 eggs which are incubated for up to 35 days: the young will be ready to fledge by the time they are 5 weeks old and usually remain with the parents for a further 2 - 3 months.  

Although widespread and unthreatened in the wild, the introduction of the Little Owl to New Zealand about 60 years ago has given the Boobook competition for nesting sites and food, tough this has not proven to reduce the native numbers.

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South America comes to Suffolk...

We'd like to tell you about two new birds who have joined us at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary - a pair of Yellow Headed Caracaras. The distinctive character, gait, feeding habits & colouring of these intelligent avians will add an interesting dimension for those that visit the Sanctuary to learn all about birds of prey, their lifestyles & conservation.

Caracaras belong to the family of falcons known as Falcondae. They are native to the South American continent, with the Yellow Headed variety living on the savannah, in swamps & around forest edges from Nicaragua to northern Argentina, whilst other of the genus live high in the Andean mountains. They are also now found on the islands of Trinidad & Tobago.

Though of the falcon family, Caracaras do not resemble ‘familiar’ falcons at all. They have much longer legs and necks, with rounded wings and, unlike other falcons, are not fast-flying aerial hunters but rather sluggish on the wing. This is no doubt connected to the biggest difference between them and their more dextrous relatives, in that they feed predominantly by scavenging for carrion. 

In common with other carrion feeders - vultures, for instance - Caracaras have evolved with bare heads and pointed beaks, and feet designed to walk along the ground rather than grasp & hold prey. The Yellow Headed Caracara eats anything from decaying crocodiles and other amphibians through to snails and the smallest of insects. As a species, it often scours the territory in large groups which natively fly together from one feeding ground to the other. However, all is not sweetness and light amongst these scavenging groups, for once the birds have discovered a good feeding site such as the carcass of a cow, they will become dominant and aggressive towards each other, and have even been known to force the food from another bird's gullet.

Caracaras are also known as the Tick Bird, as they enjoy resting on the backs of grazing cattle and removing ticks and parasites from the backs of the bovines, even on some occasions feeding on open wounds by pulling at the flesh.

Unlike true falcons, the Caracara builds its own nest out of twigs and vegetation rather than inhabiting a ‘scrape’ on the side of a mountain or rocky outcrop. The nests are usually at the topmost part of a high tree, with a particular favorite being the top of Palm trees. Two eggs are usually laid each year and are incubated for approx. 4 weeks. The young are ready to fledge once they are about 40 days old. This tends to be at the beginning of the rainy season when food is plenty and readily available.

The Caracara is the national emblem of Mexico and is a bird which has adapted readily to urban areas which, after the American Black Vulture,is the most easily seen bird of prey in Latin American cities.

Our plan is to have our new additions take part in our flying demonstrations, to compare their natural intelligence and carrion tendencies with the lifestyles of other birds at the centre - an interesting and often amusing site. Why not pop in and meet them next time you are passing?

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Down in the garden, something stirred...

This week saw great excitement at S.O.S. when a team of Barclays Bank volunteer management & staff arrived at the Sanctuary to install a special Sensory Garden, which they had kindly agreed to sponsor.

Among the visitors we welcome to the Centre throughout the year are many disadvantaged children & young adults who are brought along by their carers to see the beautiful owls and other birds of prey in their aviaries and in flight during the demonstrations that we give during the summer months.

However, in order to enhance the visits of these youngsters we thought it would be a good idea to develop part of the centre as an additional experience to widen the scope & enjoyment of their visit. Transforming the centre forecourt of the Centre as a Sensory Garden seemed to be an idea with prospects and with this in mind, our fundraiser-in-chief, the redoubtable Maz, approached a number of corporations to see if they would be interested in funding the project.

Before & after - what a difference a day makes!

To their great credit, Barclays Bank gave us an almost immediate 'thumbs up' and after an exploratory visit, returned on the big day with all the equipment necessary to install the garden, ably aided and abetted by a group of about 20 of their staff who had volunteered to graft on our behalf.

The transformation was remarkable, not least because the Barclays crew were able to declare 'mission accomplished' within the space of a day.

A sheltered garden seat amongst the flower beds

The Sensory Garden was designed by Barclays to stimulate the 5 body senses - touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing. To do this they incorporated as many colours, sounds and textures into the fabric of the garden as possible. Adding colour was the easy bit, as they used a great variety of plants to vibrant, multi-hued effect. To stimulate hearing, the garden benefits from having an array of windchimes within the trees and the sound of the water feature which was installed, bringing the trickling sound of a stream to the area. To stimulate taste and smell, a mixture of herbs and plants like lemongrass, mint and a curry plant (which leaves a distinctive smell of curry when touched) were added to the blooms Visitors are guided towards the bark of the trees, rippling water and some of the sturdier plants & leaves to satisfy the tactile senses.

The water feature - fountain and shale

As you will see from the pictures, the end result is a beautiful garden which has added an extra dimension to the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and one that invites young and old alike to wander through it and admire the tranquility and beauty it provides. We are sure it will provide a rewarding experience for all visitors, especially those who are disadvantaged by lack of sight, hearing and other faculties, and we'd like to say a very big THANK YOU to Barclays Bank and their team of volunteers for their generosity and hard work in providing and building the garden.

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Grey Partridge Conservation

For a few years now, alongside Owls & Red Squirrels our manager Andy Hulme has been concentrating on a third conservation project involving a small game bird, the Grey Partridge.

These birds were once a common sight in in East Anglia, traditionally found on the arable lands of the region. However, like so many wildlife species, their favoured habitat of uncultivated field margins were ploughed into the ground and set-aside areas disappeared. As a result Grey Partridges have had difficulty finding suitable environments to provide their preferred diet of seeds, grasses, insects and the all-important insect larvae which provide the correct nutrition for their young.

But the tide is turning. With the help of conservation groups, sympathetic farmers and the special incentives provided for land owners, the type of habitat favoured by Grey Partridge is being allowed to flourish and a depleted UK population of only 75,000 breeding pairs is on the rise once again.

Andy has enabled us to play our part by using the large enclosure where our colony of Red Squirrels resides, to breed Grey Partridge for release. These are periodically set free in coveys of about 15 birds of both sexes onto managed land in the local vicinity - usually field margins between 4 and 6 meters wide. This habitat provides plenty of suitable nesting sites and the required abundance of insect life and a good variation of leaves & seeds on which they can forage.

Once back on the land, Grey Partridge form pairs by the end of February and start seeking out suitable nesting sites - they prefer free-draining soil on a south-facing slope with good cover provided by vegetation such as short tussocky grass and crops. Eggs hatch in late Spring and notably, the chicks immediately start the process of hunting for insect life using and instinctive natural pecking method which is extremely strong in the species from the time they hatch.

Our Coveys of Grey Partridge are quite happy co-habiting with our Red Squirrels prior to their release

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A Smaller Mum...

The entrance path to the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is a busy one, host to the daily comings and goings of both staff and the increasing number of visitors we see as summer approaches. Alongside this is a small seating area where the staff take a breather and behind this - quite oblivious to the hustle & bustle of the nearby goings on - is where a robin has chosen to raise her brood of six young chicks! 

Ma Robin was first spotted sitting motionless on her nest in the open-fronted birdbox, placed there more in hope than expectation by staff members Anna and Andrew and who have kept a watchful & protective eye on her ever since. Now the young birds are nearly ready to fledge as they have most of their feathers, but their bright yellow ' gapes' can easily still be seen, even from a distance. 

The 'gape' is an important part of a garden bird chick, as the larger they can open their beak, the more food the mother can pop into it! Feeding time is a frenzy of activity when Mum returns with food, each chick competing to receive as much as possible from the parent by opening their beaks wide to display their hunger. Usually the diligent parents make sure there's enough to go round. Robins primarily feed on worms and insects and likes nothing better than following a gardner, waiting for the earth to be turned to reveal a favorite treat. In the wild, Robins have been been witnessed following around large animals for much the same reason - even Wild Boar as they root around turning leaf litter and earth!

Male and female Robins look very similar and at first glance look exactly the same - it can take an ornithological expert to determine the difference! Both sexes are extremely territorial and will defend their feeding sites vigorously. By Christmas many will already have paired, but they spend little time together, merely 'getting along'. They remain with one another until the Autumn moult, they become very scarce and not often heard. Robins favour open fronted nest boxes or holes in trees or garden walls. Unfortunately the Robin has a short life expectancy of only just over a year.

The Robin is a well-known bird to anyone who spends time in the garden and this little brown bird with its bright red breast is familiar to even the youngest child as they recognise them as the birds most often seen on Christmas cards. The association with Christmas has many origins. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross the Robin - then simply brown in colour - flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain: as he did so, the blood from his wounds stained the Robin's breast. However, the association of the Robin with Christmas more probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian Britain wore red uniforms and were nicknamed "Robins"; the robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card. 

Robins are also associated with Christmastime because that's the time of year when young robins are amongst the most vociferous of garden birds as they defend their breeding and nesting territories. In some cities the Robin can be heard singing right through the night and is often mistaken for the Nightingale.

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Super Mum does it again

Snowdrop has laid eggs in the same spot for the last 6 or 7 years...

With so many baby birds growing up around the centre at this time, we thought you may like to know that our 'Supermum' Snowy Owl, Snowdrop, is once again sitting on a clutch of six eggs. To date, this formidable matriach has managed to hatch well over 30 chicks here it Stonham - it seems that the chilly winds of the Mid Suffolk flatlands are to her liking!

Last year Snowdrop raised five babies, with only one egg of the clutch failing to hatch as it proved infertile. Infertility is something that happens on a regular basis with breeding birds of prey and we can determine whether an egg is fertile or not by a process called 'Candling'. This means holding the egg close to a light source such as a torch or (as in medieval times) a candle, which enables you to see ‘through’ the egg - if you can see an embryo developing inside, this is confirmation that there is a chick growing inside.

Snowdrop will be sitting on her ‘scrape’ - the rudimentary nest she scrapes from the ground in her aviary - for approx four weeks. A day or so before the eggs are due to hatch we will take them from the scrape, label them carefully and place them in an incubator, where they will hatch in the order that she has layed them, each usually a day or two apart.

(We do this because Snowdrop has a condition called haemoproteus, which is a form of bird malaria. It is a condition passed from bird to bird via the saliva, so in order to protect the clutch we have to prevent the mother feeding the young - which is why we remove them to the incubator for the last stages of hatching.)

Once hatched the chicks remain in the incubator for a few days, at which point we begin a process called 'imprinting': contrary to popular perception, owls have relatively small brains and so, as the falconers begin to feed the youngsters by hand, they take on the guise of ‘mum’ and so are ‘imprinted’ to the human form as the food source and, if you like, ‘next of kin’. We will keep you posted as to the progress of the chick.

This is our ‘Fetlar’ as a youngster - one of Snowdrop’s first progeny some years ago

Snowy owls come from extremely cold climates and can withstand extraordinarily inclement weather conditions - such as you might find in the Arctic Tundra, where temperatures can drop to -40ºC - which other birds find intolerable. Snowies nest on small outcrops of grassy tussock and blend in perfectly with the surrounding area. The female is always larger of the sexes and has more black speckling on her back, which helps her camouflage herself and her nest from predators.

Snowy Owls are diurnal hunters, which means they hunt their prey at sunrise and sunset. They like to hunt from perches, adopting a sit-and-wait routine, feeding on most ground dwelling mammals such as lemmings and voles.

Although not frequent visitors to the UK, a few pairs have nested on the island of Fetlar, in the Shetlands.

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More new arrivals...

This week S.O.S warmly welcomed Tiny, our new male Burrowing Owl, to the Sanctuary.

Tiny has been brought in as a long-awaited companion for Titch, our female Burrowing Owl, who has been with us since early last year (for more information on Titch, click here). Raised locally by a private breeder, young Tiny is Suffolk born and bred and comes from the same home as Titch and also Baloo, our Indian Eagle Owl. In our efforts to provided the best surrounding for the owls in our charge, wherever possible we like to keep them in pairs and so we hope that Tiny and Titch prove to be a perfect pairing!

Burrowing Owls in their natural habitat... and Titch as a youngster

The Burrowing Owl is a small owl with with a round face, no ear tufts and what look like disproportionately long legs. It is a species normally found across north and south America and whose favourite habitat is open landscapes and deserts with areas with low vegetation, where they roost in burrows. Though often active during the day, Burrowing Owls do most of their hunting between dusk until dawn, feeding on a wide variety of prey and changing food habits according to location and time of year. Beetles and grasshoppers form a large part of their diet, supplemented by small mammals like mice, rats, gophers, and ground squirrels. Burrowing Owl live up to 9 years in the wild.

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Following on from our previous blog about some of the other new arrivals at Stonham this Spring (see "New Arrivals" and "First Lady, Second Generation") we’ve now come up with a suitable name for one of our baby European Eagle Owls. We thought it best to call at least one by a name that was linked to his mother's, and as Rheia is the name of a Greek goddess, our choice is Hades because, as you can see from the accompanying pictures, he is indeed one hell of an owlet!

Hades looks like a bundle of fun now - but his sheer size as a youngster and strong talons illustrate that he will soon be a quantity to be reckoned with!

Now with a few weeks under his belt, along with our new Malaysian Wood Owl Bali, Hades has moved from his first home - the rudimentary but well protected floor of our falconer's hut, where they have both spent the last 5 weeks happily crashing into everything in their path - into a crèche aviary.

Hades & Bali together in the crèche aviary, where they are beginning to fledge

This provides a secure space for young owls to stay during the day, where they can adapt to the outside world, the climate and the enquiring scrutiny of visitors at S.O.S; and also stretch their wings and fledge as they grow their all-important flight feathers through. At night, whilst the evenings are still chilly, they are brought back indoors but once old enough, they will take up residence in their own full size aviaries at S.O.S!

As always, we'll keep you posted on their progress.

Andrew Farrow

Owl Pellets ... & Discovery Days

S.O.S. is pleased to announce the launch of its Owl Pellet Discovery Days, the first of which is next week on May 24th.

During the morning, youngsters can come along to the Suffolk owl Sanctuary, when they will be given a guided tour of the Centre, then do a spot of Owl supervised pellet dissection & detection, and finally be able to watch our 12.30 flying display. Each participant will be given a Pellet Discovery Kit comprising a large owl pellet, tweezers, prod, magnifying glass and information all about owls, their pellets and what you are likely to find inside them. The cost for each activity session, including all the above, is £6.50 per participant.

What is an Owl Pellet? Well, it's what is formed after an owl has eaten its prey (such as small mice and voles) and comprises the bits that cannot be digested, like bones, teeth, fur etc. The owl coughs out these bits in pellet form about six to eight hours after it has eaten and usually produces two every twenty four hours. The pellet must be regurgitated before the owl can feed again.

If you can't make it to the Sanctuary at Stonham Barns, then you may think about doing some detective work in the countryside by looking for owl pellets you can dissect for yourself. But before you start, a warning: along with other birds, owl nests & roosts are protected by law and it is illegal to remove eggs or young from them, or interfere with them or their nests & roosts in any way. So, if you do go looking pellets, please remember to leave anything that looks like a nest well alone.

Now, onto the search, and to begin with a little detective work may be required to discover if you have owls in your area. Firstly, look for the signs - perhaps take a quiet walk around the local park or recreation ground (but ensure an adult always knows where you are) and see if you can find where the owls roost or nest. Remember that a source of prey for the owls must be close by, as owls will only roost in an area where there is an abundance of small mammals to feed on. We suggest asking the park keeper or wildlife ranger if they know of any place where owl pellets may be safely collected.

Here are a few pointers. Barn Owls like to roost in old farm buildings or hollow, often derelict trees. Look on the side of the building or tree for white streaks, which are the tell-tale signs of owl droppings and usually indicate that they use the roost regularly. Now look below the roost site for small grey or black packages - these are the pellets. Barn Owl pellets are usually about 35mm - 65mm (1.5" - 2.5") in length, and are very smooth and round in shape. Should you be lucky enough to find one pellet at the site, then it is likely you will have found a regular supply BUT please remember to respect the owls and indeed the owner of the barn.

Tawny Owls, which are the commonest of owl species to be found in Britain, are as happy living in country woodlands as they are in wooded areas near the hustle and bustle of towns, so whichever, you are most likely to have a Tawny Owl around if you are near an area with plenty of trees. Tawny Owls like to roost during the day close to the trunk of a tall mature trees or conifers, but they do not have singular favoured roosts and use any suitable perch to sit on and regurgitate their pellets. It's worth remembering that Tawnies usually produce their pellets usually while out hunting so although a common bird, their pellets can be hard to find. It's worth asking local people if they have ever found pellets in their vicinity to speed up your search.

Tawny Owl pellets are much more furry than Barn Owl pellets and tend to taper off at one end. They measure about 25mm - 45mm (1' - 2") in length. They seem much less solid than the Barn Owl pellets and the contents can be seen easily within the mass.

Little Owls are our smallest owl and can often easily be seen during the day and at dusk. They like old dense hedgerows, trees in parkland and dead trees - their favorite roosts are in ancient Oak and Ash trees and they also like Willow pollards. As you would expect, the pellets are small, only 16mm-35mm (.75" - 1.25") long and are elongated with a distinct point at one end. They weigh very little, may feel spongy if pressed and are likely to contain insect remains such as wing cases. The pellets are produced out in the open while hunting, and so are likely to be stumbled on accidently.

Finally, Short and Long Eared Owls are rarely seen in the UK, and their pellets more difficult to find. The Short Eared Owl is best seen in winter months, when it hunts on salt marshes close to the mouth of estuaries and salt flats and the pellets are often deposited on the hard-to-get-at the grassy banks of a sea walls and estuary edges. Meanwhile the timid and well-disguised Long Eared Owl prefers to roost in dense thorny hedges, scrub areas such as tall bramble bushes on farmland and close to the edges of woodlands. Their roost sites can be used by up to ten birds, year after year, which means that lots of pellets are likely to build up over a period of time all in one place - a real find if you come across them!

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Welcome Back, The Hobby

In the bird world, now is the time of year when we start welcoming summer visitors back to these shores. Garden birds like Swifts, House Martins and Swallows have already put in an appearance, and they have been closely by the Hobby, a small bird of prey which, year upon year, follows the migration of all these species as they work their way back to the UK from Africa.

Migration is the process by which species of animals move from one area to another for the reason of reproduction. Longer days and warmer weather give birds a better chance of success rate when raising young and so the migration pattern is from the south to the north in our summer, and the reverse in winter.

Hence Hobbies usually arrive late April and leave again just before the start of September. This year, one individual was recorded locally to SOS, near Needham Market in Suffolk, as early as April 13th. They are not an overly-common visitor to these shores, but in recent years numbers have been on an increase, particularly in the south of England.

The Hobby is only a very small falcon of a size similar to our native Kestrel, though it has a shorter tail and distinct, 'sickle’-shaped wings which enable it to do fantastic aerobatic stunts as its chases its prey. The favoured diet of Hobbies is large flying insects such as dragonflies and the bigger moths, which they will eat while still on the wing - they can often be seen chasing moths just before dark. Hobbies are also the only raptor capable of chasing and catching the speedy Swift in flight.

In order to catch prey, Hobbies will usually cruise out of sight at high altitude, waiting for the right moment to close their wings and plummet to earth at speeds which can be in excess of 100mph, only opening their wings again when they are just a few feet of the ground.

Photo © Claude Ruchet at www.ruchet.com

Hobbies inhabit areas like heathland, near to the edge of woodlands, and around farmland. If you have a disused crow or rook nest locally, look out there too as Hobbies favour their abandoned nests - though as a result, a few chicks can be lost to these corvids before they get the chance to make the journey back to Africa.

As a rule the female Hobby will lay 3 eggs, which hatch in about 4 weeks: the chicks will take 4-5 weeks to fully fledge and then another 4-6 weeks to become completely independent. Young Hobbies learn to catch prey by first catching slow-flying beetles, then progressing to the faster species as they become more practised at the art.

The name “Hobby” is said to come from the Old Dutch “Hobben” - which means to move up and down or side to side quickly - which describes the way the bird flies to catch its prey.

The Latin name for the Hobby is Falco Subbuteo - you may recognise this name from the tabletop football game. This is because the inventor of Subbuteo was a Peter Adolph, who in his spare time was a keen bird watcher and the Hobby was his favourite bird. When applying for the patent, he wanted to register the game as ‘The Hobby’: this was turned down but the name of ‘ Subbuteo’ proved quite acceptable to the powers that be and which explains why the game carries crests and emblems which feature the head of the falcon on most versions produced today.

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First Lady, Second Generation

It is with great excitement that we bring you the news that our European Eagle Owls Rheia and her mate Sam, have managed to hatch two chicks for the first time!

Rheia is a very special bird for us at SOS as she was the first owl that we purchased when the centre opened over 12 years ago -hence her nickname, The First Lady of Stonham. Rheia was hatched on the 1st May 1995 and arrived at the centre as a chick only a few weeks old. As soon as she joined us, the process of “Imprinting” began - a technique whereby the falconer will take the bird under his or her wing, as it were, and replace the parents by manning and feeding the youngster to gain its confidence and make it easier to handle & fly in demonstrations.

The First Lady of Stonham - then & now

And so it went with Rheia for 10 years, up until 2006. However, she then grew into the habit of deciding that it was OK for her to fly a complete demonstration (about 10-15 minutes) for the first part of the year, and thereafter would take off at the start of the display, fly as far as the perch on the highest point of the showground, Eagle Mount, and then sit there happily enjoying the view until deciding to return in her own time. This could be be up to half-an-hour later - a tad disruptive to the proceedings as, being the largest owl on the block, no other birds can be flown safely whilst an Eagle Owl is at large!

So we took that as a message of 'enough is enough' and decided to retire the First Lady to the comfort of her own aviary with Sam for company, where she could survey her favourite views with no interruptions.

A year later - last year - the pair did produce eggs but unfortunately they proved to be infertile. So when we found two very healthy young Eagle Owl chicks in the nest a week or so ago, everyone came running to see the new arrivals. Since then, they have been moved to our incubator room to see them safely through the first part of their upbringing. One of the chicks will be staying with us here at SOS and will be part of our flying team (to replace her Mum) in the near future and we will be running a competition to name him/her - watch this space for further details.

If you'd like to see some of our young birds being fed by hand, click here.

On the subject of Euros, it has been reported in the news of various known pairs breeding again in the wild in this country, most famously a pair in North Yorkshire that managed to raise 23 young since 1997. Due a lack of evidence, it is unknown where the birds originated.

Whereas the species has been absent from these shores for many years and the return of wild breeding pairs is notable, it is generally accepted that the species was not originally a native to this country. The European Eagle Owl is the largest of all the owl species with some females weighing up to nine pounds and a wingspan of six feet! They inhabit areas from forests to deserts to rocky mountainous areas and like to nest in a hollow on a rock ledge or cave - many will re-use an abandoned eagle nest. On the continent it was seen as a bird of bad luck and ill omen.

With Rheia, however, our feelings are just the reverse

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New Arrivals at S.O.S.

Spring has now well and truly sprung at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary this week with the arrivals of our first babies of the year.

This morning, whilst one of our falconers was doing his routine daily check on our expectant mums, we discovered that the stork had already delivered to some of our birds! Phoenix and Huron, our resident Great Horned Owls, are now the proud parents of two chicks; Meluka our Malaysian Wood Owl has one chick; and Dewhurst and Forrest - a pair of Harris Hawks - also have one new arrival.

Two new Great Horned Owls

A young Harris Hawk

Meluka and her offspring (it's in there somewhere!)

If you'd like to see some of the young birds being fed by hand, click here.

So now is a good time to for a word in general about the breeding season ahead for wild owls and other birds of prey, as you too may be in for some surprises if you're out and about in the countryside. One of our main objectives as a charity is to protect, care and tend to wild owls and other birds of prey that may be injured. During the breeding season we get quite busy in our hospital due to members of the public bringing in young owl Tawny and sometimes Barn Owl chicks that they may have found along hedgerows or by the side of the road. Each type of youngster should normally, however, be treated differently.

Baby Tawnies found in this way are often what are known as “branchers”. This is because they very often have fallen from the branch during an exploratory excursion from the nest. But in most cases, never fear: the parents will usually be keeping a watchful eye on the youngster whilst hidden safely above and will normally help its offspring back to the nest by encouraging it to scrabble back up into the tree. So unless the bird is obviously injured or abandoned, it is probably better left where you found it, rather than putting it through the stress of a journey to us, and eventual return to the wild.

However if a Barn Owl chick falls from the nest then it is likely to be left unattended as Barn Owls tend to leave their young if they fall. So if you spot a Baby Barn Owl on the floor, then help is needed - call your local vet or us for advice on what to do. Click here for further information on orphaned & injured owls.

Chipmunks ahoy!

Finally, back on the breeding front, we were also surprised to find 8 new baby chipmunks in our enclosure over the weekend, as Dean and Matt went to move them into their new, newly completed home. They are really cute - why not come along and pay them a visit soon? We look forward to seeing you.

Anna Harris

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Eating for one, two three...?

Paradoxically, as the weather begins to improve this is also the time of year we tend to stop putting the scraps on the lawn or refrain from replenishing the peanut bags hanging from the apple tree for our garden birds. But research has shown that the birds actually need just as much, if not more, help with food at this time of year , due to their increased levels of activity finding food, or keeping themselves warm while sitting incubating the eggs.

So as most of the birds visiting our gardens right now will be on the look-out for food, if we as humans want to lend a helping hand, providing the right kind of food for the different species is very important.

Equally appreciated by our feathered friends is the provision of a good source of clean water, not so much for drinking as for bathing. This should be changed daily and positioned in a place safe from ambush by cats: a tray lined with silver foil and suspended safely from a tree or fence by string attached to each corner, makes a suitable bath of enough depth to allow immersion but shallow enough to prevent a fledgling from drowning should it chance to drop in.

(It is worth mentioning that any uncovered water butts should now have secure lids on them, as young and inexperienced birds can easily fall in while attempting to use them as a source of water. A young Kestrel was brought into us last year having suffered such ignominy and the poor chap got more than he bargained for but after a night in our raptor hospital in a warm recovery box, he was fit enough to be released the next morning.)

If you decide to help out with feeding the birds, the best start on deciding what birds you have in your garden is to do an "Hours Watch" by just sitting quietly in the garden or by a window, noting down the species which visit within a sixty-minute time slot. 

Depending on your findings, here are some food suggestions that might help. Blackbirds, Sparrows, Robins and Wrens are all rather partial to ‘live foods’ such as mealworms and wax worms. On the other hand, Blue Tits and Great Tits prefer to perch on the side of peanut feeders and also enjoy sunflower seeds. The Finch family such as Green and Bull Finches will eat seed mixes and most birds which come to visit all enjoy a good feast of home made peanut and seed cake. However, salty food - such as crisps, salted peanuts, salted bacon, desiccated coconut and last night's chips - should be avoided at all costs.

ACTIVITY IDEA!

Children love making things and here is a good opportunity to get them interested in wildlife in the garden - why not make help them make some Bird Cakes, which are quick, easy and most of all fun!
 
Ingredients (not for human consumption): Lard, peanuts or seed an old yoghurt pot with hole in bottom (or a flowerpot), and some string.
 
Method: Tie the string through the hole in the base of the pot to hang the cake - ensure you do this first! Then, melt the lard in a saucepan until runny (adult supervision required here), add the peanuts or seed and mix well. Pour the mixture into the pot/s and allow it to cool and harden. Finally hang them from tables or trees or tip out the contents onto your bird table (remembering to regularly tidy up any loose seed or food which attracts rats and other rodents, which can spread disease) and then watch and enjoy as your treat is eagerly gobbled up. 

As a result, it shouldn't be long before you see the new baby birds like this little chap in your garden, and you can be happy in the knowledge that you helped them get there! 

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The Thornham Owl Project

As a Charity of whose charter the creation of new, permanent habitat of wild owls and other birds of prey forms an important part, S.O.S. is always interested to learn about the activities of others who have similar goals.  

So we're pleased to draw to your attention the work of a neighbouring group - The Thornham Owl Project - who are celebrating an important milestone in the quest to ensure that Barn Owls in particular are given every opportunity to survive & prosper in the face of man's encroachment on the landscape.

The Thornham Owl Project last week erected its 150th Bird of Prey nest box - no mean achievement for a group of experienced volunteers who have given of their time (and money) over the last 10 years to provided safe harbour for raptors in East Anglia!Initially the boxes were put up by Roger Buxton, who started the project in 1997, and Mark Chester - both talented local artists - within the Thornham Estate in Suffolk and along The Waveney Valley, which borders the county with Norfolk, to the north. Aided and abetted by another staunch helper, Kevin Boyce, and the Countryside Park Ranger at Thornham, Tim Page, the main aim was to put up nest boxes for the various bird of prey species which inhabit the local area. 

The Thornham Team build their own nest boxes

However, it soon became apparent that - in common with large tracts of the British countryside - there was a distinct lack of Barn Owl nesting sites in the area. This was primarily because many of the old hollow trees favoured by Barn Owls had been felled or blown over in high winds, and in this neck of the woods, many of the old barn buildings had been converted into luxury houses and offices.

As a result of Roger & Marks initiative, the project has now erected over 100 Barn Owl nest boxes stretching along the Waveney Valley corridor from Redgrave to Bungay, along the Gipping Valley and throughout the Thornham Estate. Importantly, the scheme enjoys an excellent success rate - the project saw 40 Barn Owl chicks reared from these boxes in 2007.

With this in mind, the Thornham Owl Project is now radiating further north into South Norfolk with more nest box schemes, and it's here that we (that is S.O.S., as trustees of the donations you are kind enough to fund us with) hope to be of assistance.  

Firstly, the 'patch' we cover as part of our East Anglia Nest Box Scheme is pretty much centralised through Mid Suffolk: establishing links with the Thornham Owl Project means that hopefully we can avoid any duplication of effort and so ensure our resources are used more efficiently. I am sure we will learn from the experience of the Thornham group, too. Secondly, S.O.S. have offered to fund the purchase of materials The Thornham Owl Project may need for the building of new nest boxes for their extended programme.

The Thornham Team have the necessary accreditation to allow the careful ringing of young Barn Owlets

So, we hope this is the beginning of a new co-operation which we hope will benefit all concerned, not least the Owls. We'll keep you posted as to progress and future developments.

P.S. Just a polite reminder that any Barn Owl nesting sites are protected by law. You may not disturb, take eggs or chicks from any nest unless you have a special Disturbance Licence which is issued by DEFRA. If you think that Barn Owls are in situ in the nest box, please leave well alone but by all means contact a proper source such as the Thornham Owl Project or us here at SOS.

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Red Squirrels Named!

As you may aware, during the winter months we concentrate on “re-vamping” the aviaries and perform general maintenance duties around the Centre. This was very necessary down at the woodland walk, where we gave our Red Squirrel pen had a good tidy up and added a few optional extras to it, including more ropewalks and a newpond.

We had two new squirrels arrive to join the colony late last summer. Already in situ was the final remaining member of our our original squirrel colony, the older female called “Nutkin” who, with the introduction of the two boys, took to her bed for a few days!

However, up until now the new pair have been nameless, so over the Easter holidays we ran a questionnaire asking our visitors to suggest suitable monikers for them. The most common names to crop up were Rusty and Fluffy, but after much deliberation the winning names we have chosen are from Evan Walker from Letchworth, Herts with the name “ Chestnut”; and Mary Newlove from Pettaugh, Suffolk with the name “Copper”. Congratulations to these winners, who will be receiving cuddly red squirrels, a family pass to the sanctuary and the first of our new squirrel adoption certificates in due course.

Although our Squirrels live very happily together in the small colony here at S.O.S., in the wild they would usually live alone in small nests or “dreys” - usually in the fork of a tree - only getting together to mate. However, family groups will sometimes gather together within the dreys during the winter months to keep warm.

The Red Squirrel - readily identifiable by it's wonderful russet colour and distinctive red ear tufts - does not hibernate and so needs to gather a good store of food through the summer months from which to draw through the winter. Primarily, the Red Squirrel is a seedeater, favouring those from Larch & Spruce trees, and will eat pinecones too. They will also store fungi in hollows in trees.

During the Autumn when food is at its most plentiful, Red Squirrels put on weight - this is very important for a breeding female, so they are in tip-top condition for the following breeding season. Young squirrels are called kittens and are born in the spring, though very often a second litter may be produced later in the year, too.

Unfortunately, with the introduction of the American Grey Squirrel to these shores, our poor native Reds have been on the decline and suffer from a disease called Squirrel Poxvirus, which wiped out entire colonies of the native species. The Greys are immune from this disease and, being larger and stockier, often push the smaller Reds away from good feeding areas, making life even more difficult for them.

Thankfully our Reds here at the Centre never have to worry about Greys, and when you come to see us please wander down to the woodland walk and watch them going about their day-to-day fun and frolics. You WILL be amused!

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New Homes for Old!

Easter traditionally heralds the arrival of spring and although a little early this year - the earliest since 1935 - as well as getting our SOS HQ ready for spring visitors, we have also been out and about completing the preparations we began last Autumn for our feathered friends in the wild.

As you may know, a proportion of the donations we receive from visitors and through adoptions goes towards funding our East Anglian Nest Box Project and pays for the nest-boxes and manpower to survey sites for, and then install and monitor, their success. Currently we are installing the last of the owl boxes in time for the breeding season, which usually begins in May.

However, there are many considerations which need to be taken into account before erecting nest boxes for wild owls and if this is of interest to you, the following guidelines set out the steps you need to take.

In simple terms, firstly you need to establish what sort of owls you have in the area, or at least which species you intend to attract. Observation is the key here: have you seen or heard owls in vicinity, or perhaps come across owl pellets? These will be your indicators that the environment holds promise.

Once you're reasonably sure that owls are already in the area, or that the habitat may well attract them, you then need to establish whether there will be a sufficient supply of wild food - usually small rodents - in the area to sustain the owls and keep their interest! This particular process may take some patient research. as if there is no localised food source, then your mission will be a fruitless one.  

The next thing to do is to build or buy a suitable nestbox for the intended species. You will find more information about Owl Nestboxes on our website by clicking here, and later this year we are publishing a free booklet on the subject - watch this space for availability and we'll be happy to send you one.  

Then, when you have the right box, it's time to site it: in our case, this is always on someone else's land, so we need to get permission to do so before we start erecting boxes.

Now, be warned: there is usually quite a bit more to putting up an owl box than simply nailing it to a tree. As you will understand, the locations for siting the box may be remote, the footings soft and/or irregular, the size, shape and weight of the box more than a mere handful and the position well off the ground - so putting up a box may be at least a two-person job. Remember to equip yourself with suitable safety equipment and a good selection of tools before you set out.

To illustrate the point, we took some photos of our most recent jaunt to sites that had been fully researched as known or potentially suitable Barn Owl habitats, headed by our Conservation Office, Dean Winham. One box was to be located on the gable end of a barn, and two others in well-weathered oak trees - and as you can see from the photos we had a very interesting day putting them up.

'Job Done' on the gable-end of a local barn

'Hard Hat Dean' manfully secures a gable box in a mature tree

The rather damp & dreary day finished with an uplifting surprise! We had taken our equipment across the fields to the second of the mature trees we believed would provide the perfect roost/nest-site for a Barn Owl. Having placed our ladder at the base of the tree, suddenly - from a hole in the trunk above our heads - out one flew! After watching this beautiful bird in flight as it headed away over the fields, a very quick inspection of the hole confirmed it as a daytime roost - somewhere where nocturnal owls species "camp-out" during daylight hours to digest their meal from the previous night). Judging by the number of pellets found, we could tell that although this was not a breeding site it was obviously somewhere where this particular owl felt very much at ease.

This tree proved to already be a day-roost for a Barn Owl...

... as illustrated by the pellets inside

As a result we decided not to locate the nest box there, but successfully recce'd for a suitable alternative in the vicinity, a tree about half a mile away across the fields. Once this box was in place, all that remained to do was fill out the various pieces of paperwork for our records- and let the owls do the rest!

Now, having successfully erected the boxes, it's worthwhile remembering that this is not, of course, the end of the story - only the beginning. It can take as much as three or more years before the owls decide to use a box - so those of you who undertake the task may have a long wait before seeing any results for their actions. Also, be certain you are aware that it is ILLEGAL to go near an owl nestbox without a "Disturbance License," which can only be obtained from the relevant authorities. For more information on Owls & The Law, please click here.

So, that concludes our owl box adventure and I felt very proud of the SOS team's efforts on this particular day. Of course, if & when we are lucky enough to have any of the boxes used, we will of course let you know.

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Can you tell what it is yet?

Here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary we have a variety of captive-bred owls & other birds of prey we use to illustrate the variety of native-bred species. These reside in aviaries at our Stonham headquarters and many are used in the demonstrations, talks & visits we undertake during the course of a year. This core collection is augmented by species from around the globe, which go further to show what a great & spectacular diversity of size, colour, form and lifestyle there is in the raptor world.

A great many of the birds at S.O.S. regularly fly free in the displays we give at the centre from around Easter right through the summer, and others live in spacious accomodation with the space, habitat, privacy & security required to provide an humane & stress-free environment.

Where & whenever possible, we like to keep our birds as male & female pairs of the same species, as they are generally much happier this way than if living in isolation. Though many are 'bonded' couples, the pairing is not specifically for breeding reasons and indeed, many of our older birds are paired together purely for companionship.

However, when the need arises it can sometimes prove difficult to find a mate for a single bird already in residence at S.O.S. This has been the case with Lanark, our long eared owl, who sadly (and despite our best efforts) has - since the demise of her previous partner due to old age - spent most of last year alone.

Since that time we have been trying all the usual channels to find a replacement male long eared owl, the channels being firstly, other raptor centers or collections; secondly, reputable breeders, and thirdly, private owners and other contacts who may be seeking a home for a bird they can no longer keep.

When we began our search, we soon discovered that virtually all suitable captive, non-related male long eared owls of a suitable age were already spoken for - quite literally "otherwise engaged."

Eventually we found a suitable candidate in the hands of a private collector. Having taken delivery, we then set about carefully introducing the owls to each other to spot whether there was likely to be any aggressive behaviour between them - firstly by putting them in separate, adjacent aviaries within sight of each other and subsequently together in the same aviary under constant scrutiny until such time as we felt confident they could co-habit peacefully.

Fortunately, after a week together it looks as though we have a compatible couple: whether they will bond successfully in terms of breeding remains to be seen.

Kielder & Lanark get to know each other

However, trying to get a photo of the new male - we've called him Kielder - is proving incredibly difficult! This is not really surprising as, as with any animals introduced into new surroundings, they are at first very timid and wary of change in situation, But although you have yet to see the best of Keilder, the photos do explain why these birds are hard to see in the wild, where their mottled plumage provides excellent camouflage long eared owls can be virtually impossible to see as they sit motionless up in the branches beside the trunk of a tree!

We will of course keep you informed of the progress of this new couple, and if you think you are clever enough to spot them in situ, then why not pay us a visit to meet the latest addition to the Stonham family.

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