Blue Skies ahead...

Regardless of the continuing bouts of freezing snow and icy rain, the falconers are now looking ahead to the Spring (can’t quite imagine it at the moment) and more particularly the beginning of April, which is when the Sanctuary’s flying displays will begin again - each one an integral part of our aim to educate & enthuse our visitors about not only the beauty but the necessity & value of ensuring a safe environment for future generations of British bird of prey species in the wild.

Over the winter the flying display team have had the opportunity for some well deserved rest & relaxion and are now ready to start exercising their flight muscles again for the coming season. Some of the birds will also have begun to moult their feathers at the end of last season and, all spruced up and refreshed can begin some serious retraining.

‘Reclaiming’ the birds, as this preparation is called, is a time consuming and complex business and requires each bird to be carefully health checked and weighed, as most of them will have put on weight over the winter months to help them survive through the freezing, wintry weather. Beaks need to be inspected to see if they need ‘coping’, whereby any overgrowth is carefully filed back and talons may need clipping if they have become over-long. (You can read more about this in our blog of 09.02.09).

Over the winter months, the flying display birds will have had a pretty sedentary lifestyle, much as they would in the wild so, as with any exercise, the falconers will build up the birds’ flying regime carefully to avoid any risk of strain or injury.

This year is going to be a particularly busy one at the Sanctuary, as we have a whole host of exciting events lined up and of course every day there will be the opportunity to observe one of our spectacular flying displays, providing a chance to see some of the world's most beautiful birds of prey show off their aerial prowess.

More to a feather than meets the eye

All birds of prey have attractive and sometimes stunning plumage, but there’s much more to the simple feather than one would imagine.

To begin with, if you pick up a feather it weighs almost nothing and yet a bird’s feathers are strong enough to withstand the buffeting of the severest windy weather and will insulate them even in arctic conditions – amazing stuff!

Of course not all feathers are the same and birds have layers of feathers which all have their own role to play. First of all there are the ‘down’ feathers, which those of us with a few years under our belts will fondly remember as making the softest pillows and, more recently, the cosiest duvets. And this is precisely what these feathers are for, they are the closest to a bird’s body and are designed to keep them warm.

Semiplume feathers make up the next layer and are a cross between down feathers and slightly stronger, more structured feathers and Filoplume feathers are almost hair like, similar to those you might find left on a chicken. Bristle feathers are the almost whisker-like feathers that are most commonly found around the beak and eyes of bird of prey.

The most varied feathers are the Contour feathers, which are those that you see on the outside. These differ widely in shape, size and colour and also depending on the species of bird. Contour feathers do exactly what they say on the tin (bird?), they mold themselves to the part of the body they are laying against, hence giving a bird its shape.

Feathers range widely in terms of softness and harshness, being harder for birds of prey that fly at very high speeds and tending to be softer on younger raptors than more mature birds.

The Primary feathers are those found at the tip or a bird’s wings and are most important for a bird’s ability to control its flight.

One of the most important functions of feathers however, is that they are an excellent indicator of a bird’s health and well-being. New feathers can show stress marks if a bird is starving or has an unbalanced diet and changes or distortions in the shaft of the feather can be indicative of illness or disease.

So next time you find a feather, perhaps take a moment to stop and reflect – it’s not just a feather, but a real miracle of nature!

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RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch...

Following the fortunes of our feathered friends - and news of the RSPB’s Bird of Prey Pledge campaign

At the time of writing, the rain is pelting down outside and the welcome rays of sun we have experienced for the last couple of days seem to have forsaken us once again. I’m tempted to think I preferred the snow!

As I’m sure everyone is aware, last weekend saw the advent of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, an event that has taken place every January for the last 30 years. Thankfully the weekend weather was pretty much fine and dry, at least in our neck of the woods, so I hope everyone managed to get a good bit of bird spotting done.

The Big Garden Birdwatch is vitally important, because it helps to create an overview of the bird numbers in each region. More importantly, in some ways, it also pinpoints the birds that aren’t spotted, helping to identify any worrying trends in species decline. Whether your interest lies in the conservation of song birds, bees, dormice or raptors, these trends are of crucial importance to us all. Every animal has its part to play in the food chain and in our eco-system and any decline in species suggests that something is not right in a particular habitat. For more information the Big Garden Birdwatch visit

While you’re at it, and perhaps a little closer to home as far as we are concerned, is news of the RSPB’s Bird of Prey Pledge campaign,designed to send a strong message to this and future governments that the illegal killing of birds of prey is unacceptable, Over the last few months the organisation has been collecting signatures in support of the campaign and this week handed over 210, 567 signatures to DEFRA as tangible proof of the strength of public opinion on the campaign. You can ‘read all about it’ on Mark Avery’s blog - click here to reach it.

BTO Ringing Results for S.O.S. 2009

At the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are always keen to contribute to conservation initiatives and you may remember from previous blogs that every year we have regular visits from members of the British Trust for Ornithology, who ring and count the birds that frequent our woodland walk.

Coal Tit Whitethroat

Black Cap

We have just received the results of their Survey here for 2009, which has provided some interesting results. Last year the total number of song birds counted was 171, this year the total was 254 – a marked increase. As with last year, the largest majority of our feathery visitors was made up of members of the Tit and Finch families, with a fair number of Dunnocks, Robins, House Sparrows and Blackbirds. Other species also included Woodpigeons, Collared Doves, Tawny Owls, Green Woodpeckers, Wrens, Rooks, Starlings and Yellow Hammers.

The most exciting discovery was that we had three ‘first time ever’ visitors to our woodland walk in the shape of two Coal Tits, two Whitethroats and a Blackcap! It’s really encouraging to see such diversity in just this small area and we’re hoping this year to provide an even more enticing habitat for our feathered friends.

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Onwards...

Looking forward to 2010
Despite the unrelenting cold snap, everyone at S.O.S. has been hard at it outside preparing for the New Year ahead. The falconers’ huts are well on their way to being finished, Andy and co. having spent the last couple of months insulating & cladding the bare walls of the external structures, laying the floors and sectioning off the interiors as mews, food preparation room, weighing room, incubator room and general office. All-in-all the new buildings are taking shape nicely into what will provide a safe and secure environment as the fulcrum of our activities.

To paraphrase Bob, “It’s not done yet... but it’s gettin’ there”

Once completed, the yearly round of renovating and repairing the aviaries begins and generally making sure that the Sanctuary is all ship-shape for the season ahead.

It’s also time to start the changeover of the birds that are kept in the weatherings. During the late autumn and winter months, many of the raptors flown on our winter course days take up residence in the open-fronted weatherings by day and retire to the mews room by night, whilst our summer team take a long break away in the aviaries to rest & moult. As spring approaches, the winter team are returned to their spacious aviaries as the falconers begin to reclaim the summer team, who transfer back into the weatherings.

After a winter moult, our Steppe Eagle Mir will soon be back in the air

A couple of days ago, I watched Matt put out the first two birds of the season and, as ever, was intrigued and delighted by their unmistakable characters. The first out was Mir, the Steppe Eagle, who thoroughly enjoyed stretching her feathers. The second was Pungu the Bateleur Eagle, who flirted outrageously with Matt and was insistent that he scratch her under the chin and on the top of her head. Mir squawked and flapped her wings jealously, but she tends to be a little unpredictable, so advisably Matt declined to give her a scratch too!

The Sanctuary has some really exciting events planned for 2010, so check out the S.O.S. Events 2010 page for the list so far, or watch this space for further additions - just subscribe to our RSS Feed by simply clicking the button at the bottom of the left-hand column of this page and then all the news from the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary will automatically be delivered to your computer or phone whenever it’s published. And not to be left behind, yes, we’re all of a Twitter so if you’d like our hottest news delivered instantly, why not join our band of followers - you’ll be very welcome.

Bitterly cold… or Bitternly Heaven?
Apparently, this winter has not been a misery of chattering teeth and ploughing through snowdrifts for all, in fact it would appear that the severity of the winter weather on the Continent has meant a boom in the number of Bitterns that have been spotted in the British Isles.

Bird reserves across the country have reported seeing this shy bird in far greater numbers and in some cases for the first time ever.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is reported as saying that it has received a large number of photos of Bitterns in some very strange places and also that it believes the UK has seen the arrival of perhaps three times as many Bitterns as in previous years!

The male Bittern has a distinctive booming call, which makes it relatively easy to record and conservation charities are particularly eager to ensure that the British Bittern population doesn’t drop as low as in 1997, when only 11 males were recorded!

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Brrrrr... Happy New Year!

From all the Team Here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we wish you a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Well, as everywhere it’s been a cold and snowy start to 2010 (to put it mildly) but the team braved even the most inclement weather as they struggled in to ensure that all the residents of SOS were well fed and cared for through such an uncharacteristically long and ice-bound cold spell.

This amazing NASA shot showed the whole of the UK unusually all covered in snow

As usual, the work of the hospital continues no matter what the weather and we have seen several young owls brought in that basically haven’t coped with the conditions too well and have needed some TLC and lots of feeding up to set them to rights again.

The falconers have also been hard at work on the new falconers huts, which are really coming on a treat and which will help to provide even better facilities for the care of the raptors here at SOS.

The Superb White-tailed Sea Eagle…
… is it yet set to soar above the Suffolk coastline?

In December 2007, our blog reported on the possible re-introduction of the Sea Eagle, sometimes known as the White-tailed Eagle, to Suffolk. However since then there has been a fair amount of controversy about the project, with various parties unable to agree as to the viability of the scheme.

The Sea Eagle is the biggest bird of prey in the Uk, with a wing-span of up to 8ft. The study regarding re-introducing this impressive species to Suffolk began in 2006, because it was considered that Suffolk provided the very best lowland, wetland habitat. David Wood, Chairman of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) said “It could lead to these magnificent birds once more becoming a regular sight over lowland Britain.”

At the time, there were fears that the advent of the Sea Eagle in Suffolk would prove disasterous for the regional Bittern population and it was suggested that the project should be moved to Norfolk. The reception to the idea was not much better there, with fierce opposition from farmers and landowners who were concerned about their free-range piglets and poultry and also their lambs.

It was then decided that more research needed to be done into the possible co-existence of Sea-Eagles and Bitterns and recently, a spokesperson for Natural England has been reported as saying that in light of this research, it would appear that “… any risk presented to Bitterns will be minimal…”. So now the plan is to bring the project back to Suffolk.

The RSPB has suggested that Sea Eagles are in fact quite lazy birds and whilst they will hunt for fish, small mammals and birds they are far more likely to scavenge. However, there is still concern that farmers organisations aren’t being given enough information about the impact that these raptors would have on the area.

In December 2009, the BBC “Look East” programme reported that there was now considerable support for backing the scheme, including from County & District Councils, the RSPB, the Forestry Commission, the Suffolk Wildlife Trust & the East of England Tourist Board.

However the Natural England organisation has recognised the need for more research and more discussions with farmers unions, so any formal consultation wouldn’t be likely before the second half of 2010, with the earliest possible release being August 2011.

So will these glorious birds of prey yet grace our Suffolk coastline? For now we’ll have to wait and see, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

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It's an owl, Jim...

Every now and then we receive interesting communications from followers of the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, amongst which there are often details of imaginative photos, sculptures & artworks which cast owls and other birds of prey in an unusual & intriguing light.

None more-so, we think you’ll agree, that the fantastic work of artist Guido Vedovato, whose colourful skills we profile here as the perfect antidote to the encroaching dull, dark days of winter at Stonham Aspal.

Guido was born in 1961 in the north of Italy. Self-taught, he progressively became a naïve painter and sculptor - talents which were nurtured as a hobby but gradually became a profession. His first exhibition was in 1986 and today his works are exhibited widely throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Inspired by the peoples and creatures of the mountains where he lives, the paintings are created in oil on big-size canvas in a very original style which cannot be absolutely classified. For sculptures Guido has a predilection for primitive wooden or terracotta figures with shapes redolent to the traditional and popular style of the north-eastern alpine area of Italy.

You can find out more about this fascinating artists at his website by clicking here but meanwhile we hope you enjoy the colour and spirit of his unique artistic style.
All artworks © Guido Vedovato

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The Boys from the Grey Stuff

Never A Dull Moment

At S.O.S. the bulk of our falconer’s time is spent on raptor related activities - feeding round, aviary cleaning, general husbandry, exercising the birds or flying them in displays, looking after the injured owls and other birds of prey which arrive on our doorstep (perhaps necessitating an emergency dash to the vet) or maintaining our network of owl nest-boxes in the wild. However, there are also plenty of other things to keep our hard-working staff occupied and never a dull moment as the team work to update and improve the facilities for birds, visitors and staff alike.

The current project is to replace the old falconer’s hut with a more efficient and up-to-date building which, core to our operations, includes the mews room where birds who spend their days in the weatherings spend the night safe and secure; the food preparation room and the general office. The old building is some 15 years old and getting a little dilapidated & cramped for our purposes, so now is an opportune time for replacement.

When I arrived this morning the falconers, along with our multi-talented volunteer Pete, were hard at work laying a concrete base and hoping fervently that it has a chance to set off before we have any more rain. At this point we must also say a big thank you to another of our hard working volunteers, Kate, who undertook to clean out the night boxes and prepare a menu of raptor delicacies in the temporary accommodation provided, whilst the falconers were otherwise engaged!

More Grey Matter
At the beginning of the month the Sanctuary welcomed a new arrival, Napoleon the female Great Grey Owl. (Yes, Napoleon is a strange name for a lady, but like all birds of prey, she was difficult to sex, and the name has stuck, even though the gender was found to be different!) She has come to S.O.S on loan from Tropical Wings in Essex. Originally bred at the Welsh Mountain Zoo two years ago, she underwent a short period of compatibility acclimatisation for the first few days with us before moving in with her new aviary with prospective husband Taiga, our own two-year-old male. If all goes well we hope they may breed in one or, more probably, two years time.

Until then Taiga will continue to participate in the Summer Flying Demonstrations and Owl Experience Mornings. We will be publishing next year’s dates about these on our website in the near future.

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Owls About That Then!

As an avid grand prix fan, no-one was more surprised than I to see this little owl sitting at the side - nay, on the edge - of the track at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos today. 

Not only did he put in appearance during the qualifying session, but turned up on race-day to see Jenson Button take the 2009 Drivers Championship on the same day that the Brawn team took the Constructors Title. Well done all!

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Eye, eye...

Every year at the end of September, we draw the flying display season at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary to a close for the winter. The reasons are three-fold - after a full summer season the birds enjoy some R&R; many of them go into moult in the winter months; and winter is the time when we begin some of the heavier construction & repair work around the centre

Consequently, during the past few days all of our ‘summer’ owls were comfortably re-housed in spacious aviaries, where they will remain until our 2010 demonstration season begins next Easter.

The unmistakable piecing gaze of the Goshawk

Meanwhile the ‘winter’ team - consisting of Harris Hawks, a Peregrine and a Goshawk - are now being exercised regularly in preparation for the activity days & hawk walks which are run from the centre by the East Anglian Academy of Falconry. Spaces are still available for some of these events on selected days and could be the perfect solution if you’re looking for that extra special birthday or Christmas gift - visit www.falconry-east.co.uk for more information.

Just one smile for the camera…pleeease!
Just recently, the Sanctuary received an email from London based photographer Rob Murray, who wanted to take pictures of some of the flying team for a portfolio he is compiling of ‘Wildlife and the Urban Environment’. 

We were happy to comply and Rob duly arrived armed with a range of specialist photographic paraphernalia. General Manager Andy spent some time flying European Eagle, Ural and Boobook Owls to and from various perches and to his fist: they all performed brilliantly and appeared completely unfazed by all the lighting and camera equipment around them.  

But not everyone was quite so keen to be in the spotlight – our striking Indian Eagle Owl Baloo went into a big huff and flatly refused to go anywhere near the equipment at all!

However, Rob was very pleased with his pictures and has promised to send us the results once he has montaged them onto various different backgrounds for visual effect, which hopefully we will be able to share with you at a later date.

Hospital News
Last week, I reported on several unfortunate birds that had been brought in to the hospital with an assortment of injuries. So far, I’m glad to report that the Barn Owl is continuing to improve and put on weight and as soon as the falconers are happy with his progress, he will be transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation aviary.  

The Tawny Owl with the scraped wing is recovering well from its operation and - once the wound has healed - will go back to the vets to have the stitches removed.

Much sadder news is that the other Tawny Owl rescued from an RTA was in such a poorly state that the inevitable, but none-the-less distressing decision to ask the vet to euthanise the creature had to be made. Obviously, we would be much happier if every single bird brought in to the Sanctuary could be healed and rehabilitated, but sometimes it’s just not fair or right to let an animal suffer!

We now have two more casualties in the hospital, both of them Kestrels. The first was brought in to the Sanctuary on the 29th of September, again probably the result of an RTA. Thankfully, the prognosis appears relatively good and apart from some inflammation of the right eye there doesn’t seem to be too much wrong. Thankfully the bruising around the eye is coming out, which is always a good sign. I watched as Kate – one of the Sanctuary’s wonderful volunteers – held the Kestrel, carefully but firmly enclosing the wings and holding the feet to prevent it from damaging itself (or her) whilst Andy administered eye drops for the inflammation. I was amazed by how quickly and efficiently it was done, the bird showing no agitation or stress at all.

Our other Kestrel patient was also hit by a car and there was some concern about damage to its pelvis. However an x-ray showed up clear and its legs definitely work, although at the moment it can’t support its weight. It will be a long term project to rehabilitate it, but we are very hopeful that the end result will be a good one!

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Casualty Central!

Casualty… eat your heart out!

As you will probably know from previous blogs, the work of the Hospital here at the Sanctuary goes on constantly and quietly behind the scenes, but with every bit as much excitement as your favourite hospital drama! Today was a first for me to actually be on hand when a concerned member of the public arrived with a very poorly Tawny Owl.

It was the first time I have been privileged to see the falconers at work in their rehabilitation capacity, when an injured bird has been brought in and I was extremely impressed with the thorough care and attention the little bird received. Fortunately, the lady who brought her in had done exactly the right thing – put the owl in a suitable container with a towel over it, to help keep it calm and quiet on the journey to us.

Apparently, the Tawny had flown into a car at Thurston near Bury in Suffolk, probably concentrating far too hard on a tasty morsel to be aware of the danger!

After giving the owl a thorough examination, Matt our Head Falconer pronounced that she had suffered a severe haemorrhage from her nose and left ear and had sustained damage to her left eye, which would be consistent with a nasty glancing blow to the left side of the head. The poor bird put up with all this examining without so much as a peep and was then placed comfortably in one of the Hospital’s dark, quiet recuperation boxes to be left to rest until Maz takes her to the vet this afternoon. We are all hoping, as always, that the Tawny will recover and that she can be released back into her natural environment – as soon as I know the outcome, I’ll let you know!

So that was today’s drama. We also had another Tawny Owl brought in to the hospital a couple of days ago. This one had been brought in by a couple who had kept an eye on it for a couple of days, uncertain whether it was OK or not. Finally, they found the owl on the ground outside their gate and realised that it was unable to fly. The Tawny had been ringed and it appeared that it was born in local woodland in April of this year, so it’s obviously still very young and just getting the hang of fending for itself. The couple who found it phoned us here at the Sanctuary and after investigation it transpired that somehow it had managed to scrape the skin off the underside of its wing.

The Tawny was duly taken to Stowe Vets, where it had an operation under anaesthetic to have the wound cleaned. Now it’s back at the Sanctuary for R&R and, fingers crossed, I hope to be able to report good tidings in the not too distant future. At least one advantage of the owl being ringed means that we know exactly where to take her back to!

Our other patient at the moment, yet another Tawny Owl – this time a male, is not in quite such a sorry state as the other two, but he does need a good deal of TLC and plenty of feeding up. It would appear that he has an old injury on his foot, which has become infected and needs lancing. Undoubtedly this has meant that he hasn’t been able to hunt properly, hence his emaciation. We’ve no reason to think though that he won’t make a complete recovery, so watch this space!

Ural be amazed by this chap!

A while back, a Ural Owl joined the family at S.O.S. The Ural Owl can be found across Europe and Asia and shows a marked resemblance to both the Great Grey and the Tawny Owl. The Ural Owl generally has a lighter, more silvery plumage than the Great Grey, with dark brown streaking on its back and underparts, which produces a very striking effect. Its large, round facial disc is also very reminiscent of the Great Grey.
Called Bea, our new owl was born in April and came to live at the Sanctuary at the beginning of July. He’s a lovely chap with a really friendly character and has settled very quickly into his new home. We hope he will soon become a member of the flying team, which is used to illustrate the variety of characteristics found in different species of owl.

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Conservation Award

We are very pleased to announce that The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary has been awarded the 2009 Kingfisher Conservation Award for sponsoring Bird of Prey boxes in the Waveney Valley. Of course, this award is really one that can be shared by all of you as contributors & donators to our cause. Thank you - and wear the badge with pride!

One of the Barn Owl Boxes you helped to fund

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Our Blog - apologies!

Just a word to apologise for the recent infrequency of our blog postings. We have tried to put up a weekly diary of happenings here at S.O.S. since we started it, but just lately it’s proved a bit difficult as we have been down on people power since the beginning August.

However we’ll continue to update you with news as often as we can - meanwhile if you have something to say, a question to ask or just perhaps some news you think our readership would be interested in, please drop us a line at info@owl-help.org.uk - we look forward to hearing from you.

Kestrels away!

Kestrels Away

A couple of months ago, we described in our blog how three baby Kestrels had been brought in to us here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary after the barn they were nesting in was demolished. Conservation Officer Dean took them home to be looked after by his own captive bred female Kestrel Kaia. It was hoped that she would teach them how to fend for themselves and I'm delighted to say that she did an extremely good job. Last week Dean decided that they were well and truly ready to brave the outside world and so were duly released and are now living their lives as nature intended.

A Well Earned Rest

As you are probably aware, the Sanctuary hosts its spectacular flying displays from April throughout the summer, which not only provides excellent exercise for the raptors, but also gives visitors to the Centre a chance to see them in all their magnificent glory. Throughout each display, the falconers give an informative talk about each bird, so it's also a great way to find out more about some of the world's most beautiful and fascinating creatures, as well as come to appreciate the continual need for raptor conservation.

But contrary to the belief of many, the majority of species of birds of prey do not spend very much time in the air. In their natural state, raptors generally only fly when they are hunting, nest building or feeding their young. By and large they are pretty sedentary and will spend the vast majority of their time roosting. Just like any athlete, their trainers - in this case the falconers - need to keep a close eye on their fitness and well being and make sure that in fact they are not overworked.

Throughout the flying demonstration season, the falconers will continuously monitor each member of the team and will make sure that if needs be, a raptor is returned to the aviary for a well earned rest, while another bird takes over. Just recently, one of our real stars, Bali the Asian Brown Wood Owl was returned to his aviary as he had started to moult. His place has been taken by Gollum, a five year old Tawny Owl who was bred at the Sanctuary in 2004.

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Big Foot? Or...

Big Foot?... or just a case of swollen toe

The work of the hospital is key to the ethos of the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, as it is a vital part of being able to rehabilitate injured or orphaned raptors and return them to their natural habitat. A recent instance involved a Marsh Harrier that was brought in to us from Fingringhoe in Essex. Apparently it was found by the side of the road and was in a pretty poor state. Apart from the bird being very thin, the big toe on its right foot was about three times bigger than it should have been. On examination, we discovered a nasty, open, infected wound which required immediate cleansing using a mild solution of Hibiscrub.

We then took the Harrier to the vet, who elected to do an x-ray just to ensure that there weren't any other serious complications. We were shocked to discover that there were two bits of shot in the bird's wing - a clear indication that it had been aimed at with a shotgun!

Thankfully, the Marsh Harrier is now recovering and, although it will be a fairly slow process, we are hopeful that it will be ready for release some time in later in the month

Fascinating Raptor Facts

There have been Marsh Harriers in Britain since the 12th Century, although for a while their numbers were seriously depleted due to the draining of the Fens and other wetlands. Traditionally, these raptors would nest in large reedbeds, but thankfully they have adapted and many of them will now breed in cereal crops, so their numbers have risen significantly again in recent years. 

The Marsh Harrier is the largest of our Harriers and is quite distinctive because of its long, narrow tail, long legs and the way it holds its wings in a 'V' shape in flight. Males and females have quite different colouring from each other. The males have grey and brown wings with black wingtips and greyish head, tail and underparts with a chestnut belly. Females are a more subdued colour, being predominantly brown with a cream head and shoulder patches. When hunting, the Marsh Harrier can be seen gliding low over marshland before diving for a small mammal or bird.

Finally...

We are pleased and excited to announce that our three Tawny chicks from our 'chicklets and twiglets' blog in May this year, have finally been released. They took to their new environment as though it were the most natural thing in the world... which of course it is!

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Location, Location, Location

Things are looking very rosy here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, with a pleasing number of success stories to relate.

Tawny Owl Update

You may recall our three Tawny Owl chicks, which came into the Sanctuary a few weeks ago. They have done really well and on Tuesday of this week, Andy and Dean decided they were ready to start the next stage of their journey back to their natural environment. They were taken to a local farm where they were placed in a hack box in a wooded area. The three chicks will remain in the hack box for seven days to give them the chance to acclimatize to their new surroundings. After the seven days they'll be released, but will continue to be fed at the hack box until they can look after themselves.

UPDATE - soon after we posted this blog, Dean released the three Tawnies, as you can see from the flurry of feathers in this picture!

Finding Foster Parents
Late in July, Dean the Sanctuary's Conservation Officer and our colleague Roger Buxton took a young rescued Barn Owl out to Norfolk where they had been fortunate enough to locate an active nest box. In the box were three Barn Owl chicks of a similar age to our youngster. It's possible to ascertain a young Barn Owls' age by looking at the third primary feather from the front on the wing, which in this youngster was 130mm long, making him about 52 days old. The idea behind relocating this little chap is that a single Barn Owl chick will have a better chance of survival being foster-reared by a wild mum. She will teach him all the necessary hunting and survival techniques, which is a lot more constructive than being reared on his own by us and then being released.

No Rest For the Wicked
Not content with just pursuing his conservation work at the Sanctuary, Conservation Officer Dean has been carrying on the good works at home. Having had five Little Owls brought in to S.O.S, Dean then took them home and reared them in one of his own aviaries. When he thought the time was right they were put in a hack box in a conifer tree in Dean's garden, then fed for a week and eventually released - much to the annoyance of the local blackbirds, bluetits and robins who were apparently quite vocal in their disapproval.  

And on the subject of Little Owls...
We have a new star in the making here at S.O.S called Mr Tumble. He is one of Lily the Little Owl's brood this year and is now two months old. He's fully grown, although he still has some of his downy baby feathers. At the moment he is enjoying a life of luxury, being totally doted on by Andrew, who is giving him a great deal of TLC and getting him thoroughly used to being handled. His mum, Lily was extremely good at performing in the flying displays and Andrew is confident that Mr Tumble will follow in her footsteps. Once he is totally comfortable with being handled, he will also be an engaging little chap for kids to be able to hold on the glove when they visit the Sanctuary.

Fascinating Raptor Facts
The Little Owl, as you might expect from its name, is a very small owl around 23 - 27.5 cm in length. It tends to nest in holes in trees or rocks and will generally lay 3-5 eggs. It's back is an attractive white-speckled brown and the front is white, dappled with brown markings. It has a large head, long legs and yellow eyes with white eyebrows that give it a rather startled expression. The Little Owl's Latin name is Athena Noctua, which comes from the fact that the Little Owl was often seen perched on the Goddess Athena's shoulder. Hence the saying 'wise old owl', which is something of a myth as I am reliably informed that owls have brains about the size of a peanut!

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Back To Nature

Now She’s A Real Wild One!

One of the young Kestrels we have been looking after at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary since she & her siblings were brought into us has now undergone the final stages of being re-introduced into her natural habitat. This is a vital part of what the team at S.O.S do and there is always a real sense of achievement when a raptor is released safely into the wild, this time with special thanks to Dean and his pal, Kaia.

Back in July, this particular youngster was put into a ‘hack box’ for a week, which was then placed just inside a large open barn on a local farm.  Then seven days later, much to everyone’s satisfaction, the Kestrel was released.  This system of hacking is an extremely important one, as it allows raptors to build up fitness and practice their flying skills before becoming totally self-sufficient.  The Kestrel will still be fed in the hackbox, so that she has a guaranteed food source.  In time she will learn to hunt for herself and will start missing feeds, until finally she won’t need any supplementary nourishment.  Then she will be entirely independent.

Wings Across The Water

Not long ago Andy drove all the way up to the Norfolk coast to collect the newest member of the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary’s flying squad.  Cue ‘Fred’ the American Kestrel. 

American Kestrels are perhaps one of the most colourful raptors in the world.  Fred has blue-grey secondary feathers on his wings, while the undersides are white with black barring.  His back is a sort of rust coloured reddish-brown with barring on the lower half and his belly and flanks are white with black spotting.  His tail is also a reddish-brown colour; the technical term for which is ‘rufous’ (I confess I had to look that one up in the dictionary) although it has a black barring at the bottom with white tips.  

Fred is much smaller than his British cousins, being about the size of a song thrush. He weighs in at a colossal 4ozs, which is barely half the weight of our male European Kestrel ‘Bramble’! 

We are hoping that Fred - who was captive bred, we hasten to add - will be joined very shortly by a female American Kestrel.  Not only will this provide him with company (and who knows, maybe the patter of teeny talons in the future) but also Andy is optimistic that it will be possible to fly both birds in a ‘cast’ – that is, both at the same time – in the flying displays.  That will certainly be something to watch out for as we add an extra dimension to the scope of knowledge we can illustrate here at S.O.S. !

Fascinating Raptor Facts

Here’s an interesting little snippet of history, which just goes to show that sometimes ‘commoners’ can have friends in really high places.  One of our most prolific native raptors is the Common Buzzard.  At this time there are approximately 75,000 pairs in the UK, from Cornwall and Devon all the way up.  Because they are incredibly adaptable, Buzzards will eat pretty much anything from spiders to snakes; they have even been known to follow a plough to see what delicacies it turns up. 

Buzzards naturally prefer hilly locations, as this makes it much easier for them to take to the air, so East Anglia isn’t one of their favourite places to be.  But if you haven’t got a nice hill to fly from, then a church steeple will do just as well.  The downside of this is that buzzard droppings are particularly corrosive, which is why in Tudor times there was a bounty on their heads!  Thankfully, Henry VIII was a serious raptor fan and luckily for these guys, he levied serious punishments on anyone caught hurting a bird of prey.  Way to go, Henry!

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To box...

To Box or Not to Box…

As you may know, we have our fingers in a number of pies – or perhaps I should say nests – here at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, included in which is the East Anglian Nest Box initiative. With your help & support we have been running the scheme for a number of years now and with the kind permission of the farmers concerned, our nest boxes have been erected in various farmland locations in the area providing nesting sites for Barn Owls, Kestrels and Little Owls.

This is the time of year when we begin to check the nesting boxes to see whether or not they have been used, and carry out repairs & cleaning where this is not (currently) the case. As it happened, the first box we checked - located on a farm in Stonham itself - brought us good news and not so good news. The not so good news was that it hasn’t been occupied this year, but such is the way of things. The good news is that on the same farm, there is a previously unsighted pair of barn owls nesting in a disused farm building and since this is a more natural thing to do, it more than makes up for the empty nesting box! Both parents have been seen taking food into the building, which is fantastic news.

This Hobby as an injured wing, so we hope to help it get back its powers of flight by first training it to fly to the lure, and then releasing it at a later stage…

In one sense, it’s a real shame that the raptor hospital here at the Sanctuary is rarely un-occupied. On the other hand, it’s always a real buzz for the team when a bird is rehabilitated and hacked back to its natural environment. Last week a quite unusual little visitor was brought in to us for some TLC - a Hobby. This is a species of small falcon often mistaken for a large Swift because of its rapid, graceful flight. This little chap was found on a grass bank at Shotley, near Ipswich and it appeared that he had flown into a telephone wire. At first there was some concern that he had a broken wing: thankfully, that wasn’t the case, although a consultation with the vet did confirm a fractured humerus and his ability to move properly is partially impaired.

So our plan is to try to get the Hobby back to full fitness by training it to fly to the lure, so that the falconers can ascertain when & if the wing is one hundred percent healed. If the bird makes a full recovery, then he will be returned to the wild: if not, the Sanctuary will provide him with a safe, caring home in one of our aviaries. For a wild bird he is astonishingly laid back and seems to be quite at home already on our conservation officer Dean’s glove.

And finally… A Quick Egg Update

After a rather manic breeding season, the last of our raptor eggs has finally hatched. Our proud Snowy Owl parents ultimately produced seven young, of whom six survived. This is pretty remarkable given that mum ‘Snowdrop’ is eighteen years old and dad ‘Norse’ is seventeen: to quote manager Andy, ‘Not bad for two old timers!’.

Pretty Maids (?) all in a row.... five of our six Snowy Owl chicks all from the same clutch
illustrate the different stages of growth due to their staggered incubation...

To finish, here’s a small fascinating raptor fact for the week: did you know that owls incubate their eggs from the moment they’re laid. This is unusual behaviour, as most birds will wait for the whole clutch to be produced before beginning to incubate them. In the case of our Snowy Owls, there was a ten day difference from the first chick to the last and since they are fully fledged at around fifty to sixty days, the disparity in size is quite amazing - as you will see from our picture!

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Averting a Kestrel Katastrophe

There has been a great deal of publicity about the fact that Barn Owls have lost much of their habitat through barns and farm buildings being either pulled down or converted, but they are obviously not the only species being affected by these developments. Late last week three baby Kestrels were brought into the Sanctuary from a farm in the region because the barn they were nesting in was being demolished. Fortunately the farmer who owns the barn realized they were there, rescued them and brought them over to us.

The Kestrel babies have now taken up residence with falconer Dean, where they are being foster reared by Dean's captive bred, female Kestrel 'Kaia'. The idea is that being with an adult Kestrel will teach them all they need to know, so that they don't 'imprint' and become reliant on humans for food. Thankfully, they are doing extremely well and as soon as they are capable of fending properly for themselves they will be hacked back to their natural environment.

Quick Tawny Update

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, three Tawny chicks were rescued, complete with nest, and brought to the Centre. They have subsequently been joined by another Tawny chick who has happily become part of the brood. They are all doing tremendously well; looking adorably fluffy and plumply well fed, just as they should. Of course we'll keep you posted as to their progress and hopefully their eventual release.

Spreading the Word

Last Sunday, Andy attended an exhibition day at Bentwater's Cold War Museum. Armed with plenty of Suffolk Owl Sanctuary information and adoption leaflets, he spent the day promoting the vital roles that the Sanctuary plays in Raptor Rehabilitation, Conservation and Education. His ambassadors for the day were Josh the Harris Hawk, two Lanner chicks and - yes you guessed - our top man (or rather raptor) Auckland the Boobook Owl. Andy said it was a fantastic day with over 3,000 visitors; a brilliant opportunity to spread the raptor word.

Fascinating Raptor Facts

One of our native raptors that is currently doing well in the UK, is the Merlin - our smallest indigenous falcon. There have been concerns about their numbers in past years, but there are now over one thousand three hundred pairs, although they can be an elusive raptor to see. The male Merlin is about the size of a starling, however they can be a very bold little bird, often catching larger prey than themselves. They are what's known as an 'Upland Britain' bird, being predominantly found in moorland areas. Our resident Merlin at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, May hatched here in 2003. He has recently come out of his aviary to take part in some of our spectacular flying demonstrations. When flying, Merlins are remarkably agile and May loves to delight onlookers with his swift maneuvres, and frequent rapid changes of direction.

Merlins have played a significant role in falconry history going way back to Tudor times, when they were considered to be the 'Ladies' hawk. Even when Mary Queen of Scotts was imprisoned, she was still allowed out to fly her Merlins, which she did over the hills of Northumberland, accompanied by Sir Ralph Saddler.

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Thornham Owl Project Update

For the last six years, the Thornham Owl Project in East Anglia has conducted an annual survey of the number of owls and other birds of prey that have successfully bred in the approximately 160 nest boxes they have strategically placed around the Waveney Valley in North Suffolk and South Norfolk.  

The project is primarily run on a voluntary basis and nest boxes are sponsored by members of the general public but in 2008, the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary used some of the donations we received to further support the activity and can now bring you the findings of last year’s Thornham Owl Project survey, which proved very interesting.

The nest boxes were inhabited by a variety of birds, including Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Little Owls, Kestrels and Stock Doves. Eleven Barn Owls nested in the boxes and produced twenty-eight pullis - not bad you might think, but sadly rather down in number on the previous year. Two of the breeding birds in Waveney Valley had been ringed as chicks in 2007 and it was encouraging to discover that they had then set up their own territory further along the valley. The Gipping Valley disappointingly had only one pair using a nesting box, but they did produce four chicks that fledged successfully.

Tawny Owl figures were a little higher than the preceding year. Ten of the nest boxes were used, resulting in seventeen young. The Project has noted a trend for Tawny Owls to prefer nesting in the triangular shaped Barn Owl boxes, in more open situations.

2008 saw something of a success story for the Kestrels, who used twelve nesting boxes and produced a healthy thirty-four babies – this was nearly double the previous years figure! Kestrels generally choose to nest in an area where they have a wide field of view, but again there seems to have been some instance of them showing a preference for the Barn Owl boxes, even though these aren’t always ideally sited for this particular type of bird.  

Back to 2009 and there are early indications that Barn Owl clutches will be down again this year. It does appear that in some cases the birds are pairing off but not actually laying any eggs. We can only keep hoping!

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Although not Raptors, the statistics for Stock Doves have also proved to be a great ‘bi-product’ success story for the Project. They too seem to have a penchent for the barn owl boxes (so just as well there are quite a few) and in total, a staggering sixty-nine pullis were ringed from forty-four broods. Approximately a third of the world’s population of Stock Doves breed here in the British Isles, although there is a tendency then for some of them to move south for the winter - sadly, one of the birds ringed in the Waveney Valley was discovered near Bordeaux in Southern France having been shot!

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Meanwhile here at the Sanctuary, things continue to bustle. Our drive to bring raptor education to more kids than ever this year is also keeping us on our toes, including a visit by 75 school youngsters to the Sanctuary last Tuesday! Our commitment is to inform young people about birds of prey, helping to promote an understanding of wild raptors & their needs and to raise an awareness of the importance of their conservation for the future and it’s really heartening to see younsters taking such an interest in raptors – long may it continue!

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A Tightrope-Walking Raptor...

Fascinating Raptor Facts
A couple of weeks back, I was enchanted to watch one of the amazing flying displays that take place at the Sanctuary every day between April and September.

One of the most intriguing raptors in this particular display was Pungu our Bateleur Eagle, who would hail from Africa in her natural state. The Bateleur is also sometimes known as the Serpent Eagle, so no guesses for what her favourite snack in the wild would be. Bateleur is a french term (so I’m reliably informed by Andy, who is a mine of information about these things) which means ‘tight-rope walker’. This was a name given to the eagle by a french chap, who noticed that the Bateleur had a rather strange method of slowing down when in flight. He discovered that this raptor uses a peculiar rocking motion, which reminded him of a tight-rope walker balancing with a pole and rocking from side to side. The Bateleur Eagle is the only raptor to adopt this odd behaviour, which is due to the fact that it has an extremely short tail and therefore can’t use its tail, as other raptors do, as a breaking mechanism.

Being a serpent hunter is a dodgy buisness, but Pungu has two very special techniques that make her very adept at this. First, her very short tail allows her to be the only raptor that can walk backwards, which means that she can stay well out of reach of a striking snake. Secondly, she has an amazing crest that she can fan out so that any successful venemous attack will just hit her feathers, thus protecting her from being poisoned. Pungu is also rather partial to a bit of sunbathing. When it’s sunny, she likes nothing better than to fan out her resplendent wing feathers to absorb the sun – she looks for all the world as though she has a pair of solar panels attached! Quite a captivating raptor, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Essex Wildlife Country Fair
Over the weekend, the Essex Wildlife Trust hosted their Wildlife Country Fair at Abberton Reservoir. Andy our manager attended for the fourth year running, to promote the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. Originally, we were invited to the fair after the Essex Wildlife Trust gave us permission to release a Short Eared Owl on their nature reserve at Great Wigborough. The owl had come to us in an exhausted state via the Raptor Trust after landing on an oil rig on the North Norfolk Coast. It was flown to us by Western Helicopters and then, once it had recuperated at the Sanctuary, taken to the nature reserve.

This year Andy took May the Merlin, who was a super attraction to the many bird watchers attending the event. Although she is a native raptor to the UK, many bird watchers have never seen a Merlin up so close before. He also took our old friend Auckland, the Boobook Owl (our consumate show professional) and two of our babies, the Asian Brown Wood Owl chick and the Southern Faced Scops Owl chick. These were a fantastic draw for kids as they are respectively only four and five weeks old. It was an excellent event, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Raptor Baby Boom Continues
It has been a wonderful breeding season here at the Sanctuary and we are really chuffed with how many sturdy little chicks our raptors have produced. Just to give you a brief update, the first of our Snowy Owl eggs started pipping last Saturday and hatched the following day. This was rapidly followed by a further two hatching on Tuesday and then Thursday.

Lilly our Little Owl has been sitting comfortably on her clutch of three, two of which decided to brave the outside world on Wednesday of this week. We are particularly pleased with these little fellas; they are second generation to the Sanctuary as we bred their mum Lilly back in 2004!

The Lanner Falcons produced their second clutch of eggs, two of which proved to be fertile. We were very excited when one hatched on Sunday last, closely followed by the second on Wednesday of this week. All in all, a fantastic week for raptor babes.

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Chicklets & Twiglets...

Over the years we have experienced many unusual instances of ‘raptor rescue’ but just recently saw a first, when we received a nest with three baby tawny owls still in it!

These three young tawny owlets arrived complete with nest…

Apparently a local couple had decided to cut down a tree, totally unaware that there was a nest in it. Fortunately, they had the presence of mind to contact the 'Suffolk Wildlife Rescue' group. A member of their team, Alex, immediately collected the birds and brought them straight over to us.

... seen here on Maz’s desk before moving (sans chicks!) to our museum

Conservation Officer Dean has since taken them under his wing, so to speak, by feeding them every four hours and taking them home to keep an eye on them overnight. They are now thriving and, in a mere two weeks, have already doubled in size! It's not always easy to tell at this stage, but the falconers think we have two girls and one boy. The reason for this is that two of them are noticeably bigger than the other one and where raptors are concerned the females are usually larger than the males.

It won't be long before the tawnies are left in an aviary, so that they do not become imprinted on humans - this happens with hand rearing, where a raptor sees humans as its source of food. It will also give them chance to learn to fly.

All being well, in two months time when they are three months old, the tawnies will be released to resume their lives in their natural habitat. Meanwhile the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) have now ringed them, which helps to provide a record of the number of birds that have been hacked back to the wild.

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So far, it has been a wonderful spring for baby events here at the Sanctuary, too. Our two Eagle Owl chicks have absolutely blossomed and now look like enormous fluffy balls as opposed to small fluffy blobs. Much as we would like to keep all of our babies at Stonham, it's a logistical impossibility and so many will move on to other homes, where we know they will be extremely well cared for. One of the Eagle Owl chicks however, whom the falconers have now named 'Amber', will be staying with us. At the moment she has pride of place in the office, where she snuggles under Maz's desk keeping a close eye on proceedings.

Our baby star of the week has to be our Asian Brown Wood Owl, who has alternately slept and squeaked his way through three days of school visits. He has been totally unfazed by the multitude of captivated faces peering down at him, accompanied by the usual chorus of admiring 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' and has stretched his wings, fluffed his feathers and staggered appealingly as he finds his feet; like a true pro!

Fascinating Raptor Facts

One of the raptors I have had the fortune to spend a fair amount of time with, is Bali the Asian Brown Wood Owl. He is definitely a seasoned expert when it comes to school visits, exhibitions and flying displays and knows how to utilise his stunning looks to the best advantage.

In his natural habitat, Bali would come from the rainforest regions of Malaysia, spending much of his time high up in the leafy canopy. His amazing colouring is due largely to the need for camouflage. Barring on his wings looks exactly like the branches of the trees he sits on, which means he blends in rather nicely, hence avoiding the notice of any would-be predators. Babies are fully grown at about three to four months, so this camouflage is particularly handy when you're only a very young Wood Owl with very little possibility of escape.

A curious feature of the Malaysian Wood Owl is that from time to time it will choose to eat fish. Owls are dependent on keeping their feathers well oiled for cleanliness and protection from rain, so fishing is an unusual pastime for this species to undertake. Most children tend to think that all owls say tu-whit or tu-whoo, but Bali is an excellent example of the fact that they don't - not only does he emit an ear piercing shriek, he also does it with frequent monotony much to the astonishment of onlookers!

To learn more about Bali and all the other raptors, why not come and see us at the Sanctuary? We look forward to seeing you!

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