A bevy of Buzzards

Although Buzzard’s aren’t an uncommon patient for our Raptor Hospital, it is unusual to have more than one in at a time. We recently had three in our aviaries, and took the opportunity to ask Hugh to come down and do some more ringing training with Jess and Susan. In more than 20 years of ringing, Hugh has never had the opportunity to ring a Common Buzzard, so the experience was valuable to the whole team. Here are the stories for each Buzzard.

The first to arrive was an interesting case. This Buzzard was found in the middle of a field, and presented with severe blood haemorrhaging in both eyes. Although there was some orbital swelling, there was no bruising or any other signs of injury or impact. We suspect she got into an altercation with some crows. The bird spent a few days on medication to reduce the swelling, and showed signs that it was blind; not reacting to movement and doing a light-searching head movement. However, the treatment worked and after a couple of days the eyes started to clear and the behaviour became more normal for a Buzzard.

This Buzzard was checked by our specialist vet Elliot on his recent visit, who was happy with her progress. A small eye ulcer was given further medication, which has now cleared up, so we took the opportunity to ring this bird before release. Upon taking the measurements, this large bird was confirmed to be a first year female.

Bill length isn’t usually measured, but for some birds it can be helpful to determine the sex of the bird.

The second Buzzard to arrive was a young first year male who was brought to us in very poor condition. The bird was starving, which suggests it had recently been evicted from the parental territory and was inexperienced at finding food. We provided it with a varied diet to regain body condition, and it quickly put on weight again!

Enjoying a meal of quail

When this boy was caught for ringing, he earned the nickname “Heartybum” as his juvenile plumage had created lots of heart shapes on his under tail coverts. These will be replaced with adult type feathers next year.

These juvenile feathers will moult next year and be more adult type, without the heart shapes.

Not the most dignified way to get a weight, but when it first arrived, this male was only 455g, so this is a massive improvement (now weighing 600g as the jacket weighs 75g)

The third Buzzard came in after hitting the side of a van. She had swelling on her chest and head so was given pain relief to help her recovery. After a few days, she showed herself to be a fighter and we have been very happy with her progress. She was the last to be ringed and despite being quite feisty in the aviary, she was very submissive in the hand and allowed Hugh to take all the necessary measurements without the aid of a casting jacket.

Hugh measuring the third Buzzard. Callipers are used to get accurate measurements of bill length, tarsus width and hind claw length, which are all useful when trying to sex birds of prey,

Rear claw length helps determine the sex of Buzzards.

“Heartybum” was collected by his finder this week and released near where he was found. The other two Buzzards are also scheduled for release over the next few days, so if we receive any further updates from them, we will share them here.

Great Big Green Week

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are always looking for ways to be more sustainable and limit the impact on the environment.

Visitors who have completed our trail booklet will have found signage around our site explaining how we take in old towels for the hospital, recycle newspaper in our overnight bird boxes, collect rainwater to water the gardens and use cut branches as perches in our aviaries.

To celebrate Great Big Green Week, running between the 18th and 26th September, we’ve written this blog with our top tips on how to be more Green.

• Plant a tree or sow a wildflower meadow - These are not only very green ideas, but will benefit people and wildlife too! Trees not only provide a home for many species, including Owls, but they store carbon from the atmosphere, provide shade on warm days and help soak up surface water when it rains. Wildflowers look (and smell) amazing, which attracts lots of pollinators like bees, beetles and butterflies. This in turn attracts animals that feed on these insects, moving up the food chain to our apex predators like Kestrels and Barn Owls.

• Save water - Turning the tap off when brushing your teeth can save up to 200 gallons of water a month! Try taking a five minute shower - choose your favourite song (or two) and challenge yourself to get clean before the song finishes! And to be extra green, why not use the “grey” water to water the garden or house plants? Whilst we don’t often experience water shortages here in the UK, with increasing temperatures due to climate change, there is a high risk that in the future this may become more of an issue for us.

• Leave the car at home - During the national lockdowns last year, people around the world were sharing how happy they felt to be able to walk around with less traffic on the roads, discovering new places easily overlooked when whizzing past in a car. Now that restrictions have lifted, everyone has jumped back in their cars, which has had a massive impact on our wildlife! If you can, walk or cycle to school, work or social events. This is not only fantastic for the environment, but will also improve your own health, as it is recommended by the NHS we should be doing 150 minutes of exercise every week. If you need to travel longer distance, try using public transport or car-sharing.

• Eat seasonally - Whilst supermarket shopping has become the norm for most of us, it can be hard to know what produce is “in season” as we’re used to being able to buy whatever we want, whenever we want it! Try visiting your local farmers market or farm shop to discover locally produced food that is in season right now! Growing your own is also a great way of learning the value of food, and it tastes amazing too!

• Reduce plastics - Most people are now used to taking their own bags when they go shopping, but you can do even more. Why not take a reusable drinks bottle or coffee cup to use when you’re out of the house for the day? If you’re out buying a drink, say no to a straw or cutlery (you can take your own from home) and help raise awareness about the impact of single use plastics in the environment.

Home Education Days

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary we have always supported local home educators. Several local groups already use our facilities on site for group visits, while a number of individual families bring their young learners for an alternative day out.

Having recently realised that there are more Home Educators in the area than previously thought, we’ve decided to run some special Home Education Days throughout our quieter season. These will feature all the same benefits as our group days, but will be open to all, allowing families to get to know others who share similar interests.

Education Officer Susan explains “Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is unique to the area, in that we can offer bespoke educational activities about bird of prey conservation for groups who visit us. We understand that not all home educators will be part of a larger group, and wanted to offer them an opportunity to meet others in a safe and friendly environment which caters for their learners needs.”

We are planning to start these days in November, with two or three sessions planned per day (to cater for different ages/ abilities). Each session will be limited to a max of 8 participants, allowing us to use our private Activity Room for most activities, and catering for those who may not cope in larger group environments.
Session topics will be pre-set initially, however there is scope for participants to put forward suggestions for other topics or subjects going forwards.

To help us make sure that we offer what is needed, we have created a very short survey for home educators to complete. You can also leave your contact details on the survey to be added to our mailing list so you won’t miss any updates. Alternatively, keep an eye on our social media for further announcements.
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New skills for Jess

Regular followers of this blog may have seen that in the past 12 months we’ve started ringing some of our hospital birds before release.

Jess ringing her first bird with a BTO ring.

The British Trust for Ornithology coordinates the British Bird Ringing Scheme, which sees volunteers around the UK ringing wild birds to help monitor populations, migration and general health of our birds.

By ringing birds that have been taken into care, we have a chance of assessing whether these birds survive after release.

Hugh Hanmer, who is a Research Ecologist with the BTO, is also a licenced ringer and has agreed to run the project on our behalf, and to train our Falconer Jess, who runs the Hospital, on how to ring raptors. Our Education Officer Susan is already a bird ringer, but still needs some experience with raptors, so she will also be learning how its done.

Each species has a different ring size, which are secured using specialist equipment.

Hugh says “Bird ringing is an important part of wild bird monitoring and in the UK is done by volunteers adding metal leg rings with unique numbers to birds. By adding this ring it makes a bird an individual that can be identified in the future if it is ever found again, so we can see where it goes and how long it lives. At the same time we, where possible, age, sex and take biometrics such as wing length and weight to get an idea of their condition. All this data together is very important for trying to monitor and protect our wild bird species and identify problems for them. Usually this is done on birds out in the wild but it is especially interesting and useful ringing rehabilitated wild birds prior to their release as it gives us a chance to see how well rehab birds do after returning to the wild as well contributing to our wider monitoring.”

Jess and Hugh measuring the wing length of the Kestrel. This can help determine sex and race in some species, as well as being a useful guide for overall health.

Jess says “I’m interested in learning a new skill which will hopefully lead to positive stories about our released hospital birds. By ringing the birds before release, there is a chance that we might encounter them again in the future, to show that our little Raptor Hospital here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, is successful.”

Jess carefully holding the wing open to check the birds age - Kestrels retain some juvenile feathers into their second year which look different to adult type feathers.

Hugh showing Jess the contrast between the different generations of primary and secondary feathers.

The Kestrel was returned to its aviary for a day or two before it was collected for release. The ring is the equivalent weight to wearing a watch or bracelet, and most birds don’t even notice their new accessory upon release.

A visit from the Vet

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are proud of our relationship with Avian specialist Vet Elliott Simpson from Aquila Veterinary Services.

He recently came to check some of our long term hospital patients and give us his expert opinion on their long term recovery chances.

This Buzzard came in with a severe head trauma. It had blood in both eyes and was displaying worrying signs that it was blind, with possibly some neuropathy issues aswell. After a quick phone call, Elliott recommended medication and treatment which we could provide quickly. Overnight, the Buzzard improved a bit, and after a few days it was able to see food put out for it and fly to a perch. The blood had mostly cleared from its eyes, so we are hopeful that it will make a full recovery.
Elliott was pleased with its progress, although suggested we continue treatment for an eye ulcer. We’ll never know exactly how this Buzzard got into this state, as it was found in the middle of a field. Our best guesses are that it’s either persecuted and hit with a blunt object, then dumped, or it got into an altercation with another large bird, such as another Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon or a Crow.

Elliott checking the eye of the Buzzard

Applying some drops to help treat the ulcer

This young female Sparrowhawk was brought in after hitting a window. After a couple of days to recover from concussion, she was placed into a larger aviary so we could assess if there was any other damage. She appears to be familiar with mesh and netting (which we use at the top of our aviaries to prevent escape), suggesting that she is already experienced enough to hunt in urban gardens. We were happy with her recovery and decided she would be a good candidate to ring before release. As these are wild birds, we try to minimise contact and handling as much as possible, and during the process of catching her up to ring, it was discovered that she had a mild case of frounce, a bacterial infection which can cause issues in the throat. We delayed her release until this had been treated. Elliott checked her over and removed a few small lumps from her mouth (remains of the infection), revealing healthy tissue underneath. She was given a clean bill of health and will be released soon.

Elliott checking the young Sparrowhawk before giving her a clean bill of health

Back in her aviary and ready to go!

This young Little Owl came in a few weeks ago with no obvious injuries. Upon investigation, the local vets discovered that it had an infection, so it was prescribed some antibiotics. Although it’s been quite lively since arrival, the infection didn’t clear up. It has now had a few weeks in our care and Elliott agreed to try another course of antibiotics to see if it will improve now it’s body condition is a bit better. Unfortunately, the infection resulted in some rather unpleasant mutes which made a mess of its tail, so here’s Jess giving it a bath and towel dry to clean it up a bit.

Can’t Fly, Won’t Fly is a young Kestrel which for some unknown reason, won’t fly! It was found on the ground and assessed for all the usual injuries. After X-rays showed nothing broken or any obvious tissue damage, we thought it just needed a bit of time to recover. It was put in an aviary by itself initially, but Jess then decided to put it in with two other long term Kestrel patients, to give it some competition which might encourage it to fly. So far, we have seen it hopping along the perches but it seems unable to get more than a few inches into the air, which for an aerial predator, is a bit of an issue. Elliott suggested it just needs some more time, so we will continue to care for it with the other two for now.

Finally, it must be said that whilst every bird we receive is given the best possible care, sometimes their injuries are deemed to be too great to ensure a quality of life, and therefore the kindest treatment we can give is to humanely euthanise them to end unnecessary suffering. This is always performed by a veterinarian and is never a decision taken lightly but on every occasion, with great sadness.

Sculptures for Vultures

As part of International Vulture Awareness Day 2021, we are launching a new appeal to find local artists to create some interactive models for our scavengers.

Visitors to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary over the summer have been mesmerised by our afternoon flying display, which ends with our two Hooded Vultures, Jack and Rose, joined by Ruby, the Rüppells Griffon Vulture and our Red Kites, Jester and Nessa. This part of the display explains the vital role that vultures and other scavengers play in the ecosystem, removing harmful biological waste and preventing the spread of deadly diseases.

Whilst the display is interactive and entertaining, with five birds flying around looking for food, we would love to add a new educational element to the display in the future, and this is where our Sculptures for Vultures Appeal comes in.

Hooded Vulture Rose, searching for a tasty treat during the display.

We are looking for artists, preferably local, who can create models to represent carcasses which the vultures can feed off during the display.

Ideally, the models should be “life sized” of the types of animals that our vultures would encounter in the wild, so wildebeest, zebra, gazelle etc, or cattle and goats. Each model should have gaps or holes where food can be hidden. Any material can be used, but it must be safe for our birds, and fairly sturdy (Ruby weighs in at over 7.5 kg!)

If you are an artist who thinks they could help us, please contact info@owl-help.org.uk with your idea, detailing what materials would be used and any costs.

We appreciate that artists may be unable to donate materials and time for free, so if you’d like to support this appeal, you can donate here.

Owl found in live trap

Whilst we’re sure that our followers know that lethal traps are a danger to wildlife, including raptor species which aren’t always the intended target, there is also a danger to be found in using live traps.

Some of the facial injuries to the Tawny Owl

We recently received a call from a local landowner who had discovered a Tawny Owl stuck in a live rabbit trap. Trapping for Rabbits is legal, and in some areas it has a long history of land management and employment. The landowner extracted the owl carefully from the trap and brought it to us for a check. Unfortunately, live traps are often made of metal mesh, which can cause damage to the feathers of birds of prey. The Owl had some bumps and scrapes on it’s face where it’s tried to escape from the trap, as well as some swelling to a wing, which we suspect was caused as it tried to flap in a confined space.

Other than this, the Owl is a good weight, so we hope that after a few days of observations and pain relief it should be good to be released again.

If you are using any sort of traps for any sort of animals, you have a responsibility to check them regularly for bycatch. Whilst live traps should be checked at least every 24 hours (ideally more often), this also applies to lethal traps, or even sticky paper fly traps, which can often result in horrendous injuries to mammals and birds, including Barn Owls like Sticky.

Check your rescue!

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we have been helping sick and injured birds of prey since 2001, and have developed good relationships with many local, national and international rescues who work with birds of prey. As such, we are able to offer advice, support and assistance when asked.

Our facilities on site allow us to treat sick and injured wild birds of prey, as well as caring for lost or abandoned chicks or fledglings during the spring and summer seasons. We work closely with specialist vets to ensure the best care is given to all of our patients, with the ultimate goal being that they are released back into the wild.

We were recently approached by a wildlife rehabber who had been looking after a Tawny Owl. They didn’t have the facilities to hack it back into the wild and asked if we could help. When it arrived, the Owl was not ready for release. It’s talons were worn and blunt and its tail feathers were incredibly worn and broken.

We suspect that the owl was being kept in a meshed aviary with a concrete floor. Whilst these aviaries do serve a purpose for some birds, they are not suitable for birds of prey, who are susceptible to high stress scenarios, which can cause them to hang off the mesh, damaging feathers in the process. Concrete is very abrasive and not a natural substrate for wild birds to be found living on. Anyone who has watched Feral Pigeons in a town or city will notice they often have issues with their feet, and their claws are often very short from stomping on the pavements in search of food.

Thankfully, after a few weeks in one of our aviaries with plenty of food, this owl decided to grow out its tail feathers, and its talons started to sharpen up again. This is very important for release as this could hamper it’s hunting ability, and therefore survival.

We were pleased with it’s progress since arriving with us, and have now released it locally with two Owlets and another adult. Prior to being released, all the Tawny Owls received a full health check and a BTO metal ring. This means that if they are found in the future, we will receive a report telling us where and when they were found, and the condition they were in. It’s hoped that they will stay in the local area and possibly utilise some of the natural tree cavities and artificial boxes in the woods to breed in future years.

If you find a sick or injured wild bird of prey, please check out our list of rescues and facilities who might be able to help. Whilst there are many competent wildlife rescue facilities around the UK, they do not always have the specialist knowledge and facilities required to successfully rehabilitate birds of prey.

Tawny Owls ringed and released

We were able to release our group of four Tawny Owls recently after their stay at our Raptor Hospital.

The group of four consisted of two young Owlets, who were brought in separately. One was found on the ground in a dangerous location, and the other was being monitored by a nest cam but appeared to be abandoned when it’s mother stopped bringing it food. Being of a similar age, we put them in together and they soon settled down and could be seen preening eachother.

The other two Tawny Owls were young adults (chicks from 2020). One was a long term rehab resident after sustaining a head injury following a collision with a car. This cause a bleed in the eye, which we had to monitor once it looked better to assess whether it had regained full sight. Thankfully, it made a full recovery and thinking it was a “she” (based on her size) we put her in with the Owlets. She settled in as well and was seen not only preening the youngsters but also bringing food to them.

The last Tawny Owl came to us from another rescue facility and needed some time to grow back some essential feathers. This owl was added to the group and the four owls seemed to get along well together.

Young owls and long term patients are suitable candidates for a hack release, where we install a pen in a remote location to give them time to get used to being out in the wild again, but while still provisioning them with food. After a few days or weeks (depending on our assessments), we open the hatch to give the birds freedom to come and go as they please. We continue to monitor the pen after this, and will carry on putting food out for as long as it takes for them to stop visiting. Sometimes, they fly out as soon as the hatch is open and they never come back, other times they will hang around for a wee or two while they adjust to life in the wild again.

Before being released, the group were ringed by a licenced BTO ringer, which will hopefully mean that if they are found again in the future, we will know what happened to them once they leave the pen.

One of the Tawny Owls being ringed by a BTO licenced ringer.

Our local wildlife friendly Farmer Sam has had a hack pen on his land since last year, and was all too happy to add the group of Tawny Owls to his farm. The pen was relocated to a more wooded location and the owls were delivered. Falconer Jess and Education Officer Susan talked to the family about why the Owls had come into the hospital, and about what they need to survive in the wild. The children were very excited to see the owls up close and told us there are lots of voles in the field, which means this should be a perfect location to release them from.

Farmer Sam with his children, releasing one of the Tawny owls into the hack pen.

The owls spent a couple of weeks in the hack pen before we opened it up. Jess then visited every couple of days to drop off some food for the Tawnies, while they explored the surrounding area. Using camera traps, we were able to monitor their comings and goings, including some other cheeky local wildlife raiding the free food!

We are pleased to say that after three weeks of freedom, the owls have stopped visiting the hack pen, suggesting that they have now established their own territories and discovered the plentiful supply of wild natural prey to be found in the fields and woodlands.

Why are the birds so scruffy?

Visitors over the summer may have noticed that some of our birds are looking particularly dishevelled at the moment.

All birds moult their feathers, with different types of birds adopting different strategies that work for them. Waterfowl, such as ducks, geese and swans, will drop most of their feathers at once, making them unable to fly. At this time of year you may have seen large gatherings of waterfowl on ponds or lakes, where they can at least escape terrestrial predators by going on the water. Most other birds will only drop a few feathers at a time, as they have to be able to fly to escape danger or find food.

Having missing feathers isn’t necessarily going to impact on their survival, but it will make it a bit harder for them to fly, and in the case of birds of prey, hunt.

Lincoln, our Bald Eagle is currently over at SOS2, having a holiday as he grows some new feathers. He will be back in his usual spot near our entrance in the Autumn to welcome visitors.

Titch is also having a well deserved break, after a busy Spring teaching groups and schools All About Owls. She is currently being “fed up” so she has enough energy to replace her tail and some of her wing feathers.

Taiga and Taz, our pair of Great Grey Owls have opted for a full blow out this year. They laid some eggs earlier in the spring, which we removed and incubated to allow us to hand rear the chicks, which are now in training to join the flying display team. Their aviary looks particularly scruffy, but this is completely natural, as most birds wait until the end of the breeding season (end of Summer) to moult. Despite our best efforts, no sooner do we clear up all the feathers and make it tidy, more appear (a bit like the leaves from the trees which have already started dropping!)

And it’s not just the birds! Our Silver Foxes are going through their junior moult, so Diamond in particular is looking scruffy! They have been using the wooden posts in their enclosure as scratching posts to help remove some of the loose fur, and will soon have a fresh new coat ready for the coming winter.

Summer visitor for SOS

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary has welcomed a special visitor for the summer holidays this year.

Trainee Falconer Dolly with Auckland, our Boobook Owl and volunteers Sarah and Cara with our Big Hoot!

We are pleased to announce our involvement with the Big Hoot Trail, due to take place summer 2022 around Ipswich. The trail will see a number of large Owl sculptures, painted by artists, dotted around Ipswich for people of all ages to discover over the holidays. Then at the end of the summer, they will be auctioned off to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice.

The Owls have been designed and created by Wild in Art, who have helped with similar sculpture trails around the UK.

Visitors to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary this summer will be greeted by “Snowy”, one of the blank Owl Sculptures. Located in the picnic area at SOS2, she provides a great photo opportunity for families. While visiting, young visitors are being encouraged to enter the colouring in competition, being run by St Elizabeth Hospice. They have already received some excellent entries, with first prize being a family VIP ticket to the Sanctuary! The closing date is 6pm on August 31st, so if you haven’t picked up a form yet, please visit the Big Hoot website.

Our Director Chris Astridge says “There is a natural synergy between the theme of the fundraising and the work that we do here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, so it felt very relevant that we should get involved to help support the fantastic work that St Elizabeth Hospice does in the local area.”

In addition to us hosting a Hoot for the summer, our education team are working on some learning resources to be included in an activity pack which will be distributed to schools and youth groups in the Ipswich area this Autumn.

Medicating for parasites

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is pleased to announce that we are trialling a new treatment for wild birds of prey that are brought in to our Raptor Hospital.

Working with specialist avian vet Dr Elliott Simpson MRCVS, we will be giving our patients a dose of Ivermectin, which is used to treat parasites.

This Kestrel was treated for a lice infestation using Ivermectin.

As Elliott explains “Wild birds coming in or brought in by the public are naturally debilitated, and as such can be more at risk of being overwhelmed with parasites; both inside and out.
By treating those wild individuals brought in to the hospital setting at the point of admission, we are not only reducing the parasite burden potentially on that bird, but also reducing the risk of spread to other birds in the hospital. It is a small step in the process to ensuring any and all wild birds released are as fit and healthy as they need to be to survive in the wild.”

We apply Ivermectin as a spot on treatment, which will cover against most commonly seen parasites such as lice, as well as given protection against some internal parasites such as roundworm.

A young Kestrel being treated for a lice infestation. As you can imagine, it takes great skill to ensure that the medication is administered successfully without injury to the bird or those helping.

Ivermectin is not a cheap drug for us to use, so if you would like to contribute towards the costs of this treatment, please visit our donations page here.

Christian Bale and his three Amigos

Last month, we received a number of Little Owlets from across the area.

The first to be brought to us was named Christian Bale, after the unfortunate circumstances in which he was found. Christian was found dangling by the neck from some baler twine wrapped around a bale of hay. The farmer who found him had already moved the bale from the field and was about to unload the trailer when he spotted poor Christian. He was brought in to us with a bit of a sore neck, and was treated with some pain relief and tasty morsels of food. The farmer returned to his field and checked for any signs of the nest, but was unsuccessful at locating it.

A few days later, we received a call from someone local to us, who had found two Little Owl chicks in a churchyard in a sorry state. They were brought in and quickly assessed. Unfortunately, they were both suffering from flystrike and starvation, which suggests that they had been abandoned by their parents, possibly after the nest was disturbed. It took three members of staff over two hours to clear the poor chicks of maggots and fly eggs. They were then given some food and placed in the same cage as Christian, who immediately began preening them and found some maggot that had been missed (Little Owls do predominantly eat insects). These two were fondly nick-named Maggot and Flea.

These three settled in well together, when a fourth Little Owl chick was brought in. This was found far away from any suitable nesting area and covered in mud, suggesting that it had been taken from the nest by a predator, then dropped. Thankfully, it wasn’t injured and once cleaned up joined the other three to create a foursome.

We had already decided that they would be perfect candidates to be hacked back into the wild, and had a few options available to us. Someone local allowed us to install the hack box on the edge of their garden, and was happy to provide them with food. They were moved to their new home and given a few days to acclimatise before the door was opened, allowing them to explore their surroundings. Three of the four left under the cover of darkness but one has remained nearby and is currently enjoying the free meals that are still being provided. It is hoped that given time this one will also disperse and move to a new area nearby, and not be reliant on humans for food.

Educating is what we do!

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary has had a busy few weeks at the end of the school term, as teachers were keen to give their pupils something good to remember from a disrupted academic year. Our Education team worked hard to ensure that each group had a tailored itinerary, allowing time for lunch and the play areas between our popular flying displays and meerkat talks, as well as educational sessions.

All young visitors received our Safari Trail booklet, with plenty of activities to keep them occupied throughout the day.

With delays to the government lifting restrictions, we were unable to relax our maximum group size for on site visits. However, between April and the middle of July we welcomed 11 educational groups to the Sanctuary, and delivered learning opportunities for over 300 young people. Most groups booked a Guided Walk with our Education team, which allows them to find out a bit more about selected birds and ask us any questions they might have. The most popular workshop for on-site visits was Minibeast Madness, which we look forward to running again next term with our new Invertebrate inhabitants.

Susan with Goliath, just one of our Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches who helps educate young and old about how important Invertebrates are, and introduces them to the Clean Up Crew!

Although we were only able to visit 6 schools and groups offsite this term, these visits allowed us to reach over 750 young people! We’ve enjoyed our visits to deliver Storytime with Auckland, fun sessions on Habitats and Food Chains and our very popular Pellet Detectives.

The young people at The Hive enjoyed our Pellet Detectives session, where they discovered what sorts of things owls eat by studying the bones they found.

Our Virtual Sessions have proven to be very popular! Since January we have delivered Virtual Sessions to over 1000 people from 24 different groups, including schools, youth and community groups. These sessions have been particularly popular with youth groups who have moved their programme online, and as a result, we have spoken to a range of groups from near and far – a cluster of bookings in Oxfordshire and two bookings for a Virtual Sleepover in Oman! Even though restrictions will be lifting in the near future, we will continue to offer our Virtual Sessions and hope to continue to reach new audiences.

Education Officer Susan, supervised by Shimba, getting ready for an online Pellet Detectives session.

We have had some excellent feedback on our Educational offering already, and to encourage more groups to complete our Feedback Forms, we have a Prize Draw to win a FREE Virtual Session for your class or group every term. You should receive this shortly after your visit or session, but if you require it again, please contact Susan on susan@owlbarn.co.uk to have it resent.

The Y6s of Bardwell Primary School visited us as part of their action-packed Staycation recently and had a fun afternoon learning more about our birds and animals. Bardwell Primary prides itself on its outdoor learning provision and it certainly showed in this group's response to the animals here. The children were already very knowledgeable about where our animals live in the wild and what they eat, and had a clear interest in our rescue work too.

Bookings for the Autumn term will be open over the summer holidays, and we look forward to continuing to inspire young people to care about the natural world.

Tawny Cam

We’ve had an interesting new arrival in our hospital in the past week or so.

This young Tawny Owlet was brought in after a member of the public was monitoring an Owl box using a remote camera. A female Tawny Owl laid a single egg in the box, but then was joined in the box by a Stock Dove, who proceeded to lay her own clutch of two eggs!

Both birds incubated the eggs, mostly taking turns but occasionally together, which is quite unusual as Tawny Owls would generally see a Stock Dove as a tasty meal!

The Tawny egg hatched and was being fed by mum, but there was no sign of a male Tawny assisting. Over time, the mum visited less and less, and the decision was made that the chick probably wasn’t being fed anymore, so we intervened.

The youngster is doing well and we are hoping to find it another young Tawny Owl that we could release with it at one of our hack pen sites.

National Meadows Day 2021

For National Meadows Day this year, we thought we should highlight this often overlooked but very important habitat!

Meadows and unimproved grasslands are one of the rarest habitats in the UK, and internationally have suffered serious losses over the past 100 years. The reason for this is that grassland is often seen as suitable for agriculture.

In small numbers, livestock grazing on grasslands can be beneficial, to help control the highly competitive (but very tasty!) grasses and allow other plants to grow. These other plants create a diverse tapestry for pollinators, which in turn feed a variety of species, from amphibians and fish to birds and mammals.

However, overgrazing not only removes more plants and churns up the ground more, but it also increases the nutrients in the soil, as more livestock produces more poo! This helps feed the grasses but many of the specialist grassland plants do not like nutrient rich soil, and so will disappear over time.

Meadows and grasslands provide a home for small mammals and birds, which attract predators such as Kestrels and Barn Owls.

Grasslands should have a variety of species throughout the season, and during the summer months they should be a mosaic of different coloured and scented flowers, each trying to attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies and beetles.

Here are some top tips for anyone wanting to grow your own meadow:

• Choose native wildflowers - Check out Plantlife for suitable species.

• Choose a variety of colours, scents and flowering seasons - the longer the flowering season, the better!

• If you have lots of grass, sow Yellow Rattle - this pretty yellow flower will parasitize the grass, allowing other wildflowers to come through.

• Grass does need to be cut. Cut your meadow at different heights to create tall, medium and short vegetation areas for different wildlife. Avoid cutting in May if you can, as this is when most pollinators emerge.

• When you do cut your meadow, leave the cuttings for a day or two to help scatter any seeds. But don’t leave the cuttings to rot down, as this will add too many nutrients to the soil.

We would like to extend our grateful thanks to the following local companies who have supplied us with a selection of wildlife friendly seeds to use for our educational activities.

GUEST BLOG - Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme

Sadly, rescue work doesn’t always result in a positive outcome. Some birds succumb to their injuries before we can begin treatment, and others brought in to us as so badly injured that the kindest thing to do, for the birds welfare, is to euthanise them. Whilst this decision is never taken lightly, the deceased birds can still provide useful information about the ecosystems they came from.
Here, we’ve spoken to Elaine Potter, an Environmental Scientist with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who run the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme.

Can you explain what the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme is?

The Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme (PBMS) is a long-term, national monitoring scheme that quantifies the concentrations of contaminants in the livers (and eggs) of selected species of predatory birds in Britain to determine how and why they vary between species and regions, how they are changing over time, and the effect that this may have on individual birds and bird populations.

Where do you get your samples from?

Samples are submitted by members of the public who find dead birds of prey while out walking or in their gardens, and by wildlife centres like yourselves. To request a submission pack, people can complete a ‘Contact Us’ form on our website or telephone 01524 595830 and leave their details (name and address plus bird species so we know what size box to send out).

What is the process between someone finding a dead raptor and you being able to use the results in reports?

Someone finds and freezes a dead bird of prey (double bagged paying attention to good hygiene) and provides us with their details (name and address plus bird species so we know what size box to send out). We send out a submission pack which contains everything they need (bags, postage label, etc.) to submit the bird, postage paid. We currently receive more than 600 bird of prey carcases each year; on receipt all birds are logged in and frozen. Depending on the research questions of our funders, selected birds have a post mortem where the tissues are harvested and frozen. Then a post mortem report is emailed to the person that submitted the bird. At the end of each calendar year, tissue samples are selected from the freezer and sent for analysis at the UKCEH Analytical Chemistry Facility in Lancaster. Analysis can take months as the labs are busy with a broad range of analyses and therefore, there may be a significant lag between bird submission and analysis.

Most recently, analysis of barn owl tissues has enabled us to report on ‘Second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) residues in barn owls 2019’.

What have been your main findings?

We publish reports, scientific papers, data and news.  The two latest papers reported Concentration and origin of lead (Pb) in liver and bone of UK buzzards, and The Importance of Trophic Pathways for Secondary Exposure to Anticoagulant Rodenticides.

Are your reports used to inform or make changes to best practice guidelines (in terms of rodenticide and lead use)?

Yes, Lee Walker (our principal investigator) recently attended a meeting of the Government Oversight Group (GOG) which oversees the UK rodenticide stewardship regime. Lee presented the findings of our most recent monitoring of anticoagulant rodenticide residues in barn owls and red kites; the reports can be found here. This work provides independent evidence as to whether there is any change in wildlife exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides that may be associated with stewardship.

What one piece of advice would you give to anyone wanting to help wildlife?

If you find a baby animal or bird on its own, its mother will usually be close by so it is best to leave it where it is and watch from a distance. If you find a dead bird of prey and are safely able to collect and freeze for us, please complete a contact us form. If the dead bird has any sign of decomposition we cannot harvest the tissues so please leave it where it is to decompose and return to nature.

To find out more about the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme, please visit their website:
https://pbms.ceh.ac.uk/

Tawny Owlets released

This year we had just three Tawny Owlets into our Raptor Hospital.

Tawny Owls are known for leaving the nest before they can fly, and exploring their surroundings by “branching”. Despite not being able to fly, they are very capable climbers, and most that fall from the tree are able to return to the canopy with a bit of effort. Even if they don’t make it all the way, Tawny Owl parents will fiercely protect their young, and continue to feed them even if they’re not exactly where they left them the previous night!

We always advise leaving them alone, but monitoring from a distance, unless they are in danger, such as on a busy path where there could be dogs, or near a road.

Our first Tawny Owlet was found on the ground by the side of a road, which clearly put it at higher risk. We advised the finder to bring it in, and it spent a few weeks being looked after by our dedicated staff.

With young birds, there is always a risk of them imprinting on us, so we try and minimise contact with them as much as possible. For this reason, the first Owlet was given a surrogate mum to cuddle with, which provides comfort for them.

Just as we were starting to wonder what to do with it, in terms of release, we got a call about a second Tawny Owlet who needed to be brought in having been found on a busy public path. And within a week, the duo were a trio, as a third owlet was brought in. It is considered best practice that young birds are reared together to limit the risk of imprinting, so whilst we’d rather not have any baby owls in, at least they could all be released together.

Once the new Owlets had been assessed and had a few days of good meals, we got in touch with Michael, who found the original owlet near his farm. He had offered us a space to install a hack pen for their release. This method of soft release works well for young birds, as they have time to get used to their surroundings before the door is opened, and food is provided for them for as long as is necessary.

We are pleased to report that on release day, the three Owlets were a bit reluctant to leave with an audience, so Michael left the door open for them. In the morning, all three had left, so we are hopeful that they have all set up territory in the woodland on his farm.

Our thanks to Michael, who allowed us to release the owls onto his land, and to the other finders who contacted us about baby owls this season.

Positive feedback from involvement with Suffolk Agricultural Association

Last year, we were invited to get involved with a new educational outreach initiative by Suffolk Agricultural Association. The plan was to visit schools across Suffolk with a roadshow of activities, put on by a variety of organisations linked to Agriculture and the Environment.

The pandemic caused us to rethink our plans, so that instead of physically visiting each school in person, we were able to provide some activities which could be delivered by the teachers using our materials. For this, we chose our Pellet Detectives kits, which have proven to be very popular in the past 18 months, especially with the upturn in home learning.

42 schools across Suffolk received a box, which contained other activities such as a flatpack nest box for small birds, some sapling hedgerow species and wildflower mixes for planting, as well as resources and lesson plans to aid the teachers with the activities. These activities were delivered to over 1,000 students.

These boxes were delivered to schools in March and April, and we have recently received some amazing feedback:

How did you use the resources to engage your learners in countryside and conservation activities?

They really enjoyed the pellet detective work, Finding the different parts of the smaller animals. They loved trying to match the bones to the Guidance paper and practice redrawing and labelling them.

With the current owl nesting season being upon us, the Y3 will be engaging in writing an explanation text linked to experiencing the owl pellet dissection. We will link this with live web cams of nesting barn owls and information videos about owls. This is planned to start next week.

The owl pellets were used with a Year 3/4 class and they were very excited at examining them. The identification chart was very useful. They came to conclusions about the owls’ diets and were surprised at the tiny bones that were undigested.

Photo by Kerri Walker

What progress did your learners make during these activities?

Their observational skills as well as sorting and grouping skills improved a lot to. Their ability to explain their reasons for thinking their bone belonged to which animal, justifying it to their partners.

There will be progress within the children’s writing due to the interest in the dissection activity giving them a great stimulus for writing. They learned and used lots of technical vocabulary. The unit created interest in the countryside around them and gave them the incentive to look out for owls in the countryside and some knowledge of how to care for these birds.

An understanding of an animal’s diet, where its habitat must be to fulfil its food needs. It promoted their thinking scientifically skills.

Photo by Natalie Parren

After many months of online/at home learning, what benefit was there to enjoying these outdoor learning activities? What, if any, wellbeing benefit was there?

Lots of opportunities for collaborative working and discussion which was sorely missed during lockdown.

Huge benefits of practical work – both in terms of knowledge and team learning

Their mood improved greatly and it also felt as if a weight was lifted off them, they were care free and stress free, at least for the duration of the task.

Photo by Emma McColl

What food/farming/countryside environment resources would be useful to you and your learners?

Like many other schools, we are keen to starting getting out and about on visits again. These would be of huge benefit to our learners.

Pellet detective work was amazing,

Photo by Lee Wood

For more information about our work with Suffolk Agricultural Association, please visit:
https://suffolkshow.co.uk/education/suffolk-schools-outreach-project/

GUEST BLOG - Paul Sawer Wildlife Photographer

We asked Paul Sawer, a local Wildlife Photographer who runs our popular Photography Courses, to share some of his experiences with us. Here’s what he had to say:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

 I am 49, live in Saxmundham, Suffolk and  I am a professional wildlife photographer.

My job allows me to travel widely and I arrange and guide wildlife photography tours as well as teaching and setting up photographic experiences in the UK including photo tuition at SOS.

Boxing Hares - photo by Paul Sawer

 What led to you becoming a wildlife photographer?

 I have held a passion for the countryside and it’s wildlife since childhood. In the early years I was content to simply observe the local wildlife but in my twenties I wanted to record what I was seeing on film (stills not movie), hoping to emulate some of the great images that were being published at that time. This was to prove a very slow process and it took me years until I had reached the standard I was aiming for. This was not only due to having to learn the camera and the art of photography but also learning about the subject itself. For me the latter was the fun part. I am not into landscapes, portraiture or still life and I would not be a photographer if there wasn’t any wildlife to point the camera at.

Once I had attained a decent standard I was able to provide a little income through image sales via photographic agencies although my main revenue nowadays comes from workshops I conduct assisting other photographers to obtain quality imagery.

Kestrel - photo by Paul Sawer

 How has wildlife photography changed over the years?

 The main change has been the development of digital camera technology. Not only can one now take many more frames per second (any extra frame offers more chance that a fast moving subject will be captured in the correct position) but the advancements in high ISO  mean that even on the darkest days a high shutter speed (therefore avoiding motion blur) can be obtained without too much loss of image quality. High capacity memory cards mean you can shoot many 1000’s of shots without the expense or concern of changing film after 36 shots so consequently the chances of obtaining good results are higher.

Another great advantage is the ability to immediately view the resulting images alongside the shooting data. This is a huge benefit to the photographer and also extremely helpful when I am offering tuition.

There are now several folk like myself around the country that provide services such as hide hire or specialist photo experiences where all the groundwork has been done to, as far as is possible with wild subjects, almost guarantee your chosen animal will arrive on cue.

Tawny Owl - photo by Paul Sawer

 Is being a successful photographer down to equipment, skills or luck, or a combination of all three?

 All three for sure, with the addition of knowledge and experience, though these may come under skills.

Knowing what to expect and the exact spot, where say a bird will settle, enables me to be set up and be ready to press the shutter at the right time. My general style is for a ‘clean’ image without any distracting elements and I often create a scene in which I have complete control of everything apart from the bird to ensure the foreground, background, lighting, distance from subject etc. are all as I desire and then wait for the bird to appear in my chosen spot. A little bait usually helps in achieving this fairly quickly

As previously mentioned the equipment available today is incredible but I feel this simply means one has to up their game to create images that stand out, which is by no means a bad thing.

There is of course still plenty for the photographer to do. One still has to constantly adjust settings, expose, focus, track and compose as well as battle the elements and often undertake some ungodly alarm calls.

No doubt luck comes into play occasionally but I feel you usually make your own luck or rather increase your chances. Experience teaches you to leave the camera turned to certain settings so that it is ready to go for that moment a hawk comes whizzing past, when there simply isn’t time to make any camera setting adjustments. Or on a cloudy day setting your hide in the position that still works should the sun appear.

Barn Owl and Butterfly - photo by Paul Sawer

What is your best/ most memorable photo that you've taken/ that someone else has taken? (And can you share them?)

In my formative years I was inspired by two photographers.

Eric Hosking began photography in the 1920’s and was way ahead of his time producing some incredible shots and I can only wonder what he would have achieved given today’s equipment.

Eric Hosking setting up an automatic trip for use with High Speed Flash to Photograph birds in flight -1948 (Photo courtesy of the Eric Hosking Trust)

2  images, 1 of a barn owl and the other a nightjar, both in flight, stand out as favourites.

Stephen Dalton produced some amazing images using high speed flash in 1970’s and 80’s (and probably still does). His work mostly involved insects but his shot of a swallow drinking blew me away when I first saw it and I would be thrilled to have taken it myself. Again this was with ‘old’ technology which makes the achievement even more amazing and, although still difficult, would be much easier to capture today.

Photo of a Swallow drinking, by Stephen Dalton

I don’t have a favourite photo of my own work. I feel it is a bit like food or music and depends on my mood. I do however have favourite subjects- kingfishers top the list followed closely by owls, birds of prey and hares. I like simple uncluttered shots usually with an element of action.

Kingfisher with catch - photo by Paul Sawer

What is one bit of advice you'd give everyone to help wildlife?

 Start at home. It doesn’t have to be much. I feel something we can all do fairly easily is to leave a little area of the garden wild.

Plant some wildflower seeds, build a nest box or dig a pond.

If everyone has just a little bit for nature this turns a housing estate into a nature reserve with little refuges dotted around at regular intervals.

Hedgehog and Snail - photo by Paul Sawer

To see more of Paul’s images and find details of his photography courses, please visit his website:
www.paulsawer.co.uk

To find out more information about our own photography workshops, run by Paul, please click here.