Barn Owls set for release

We have had a long standing partnership with Broughton Hall Farm near here, and are very thankful to farmer Sam for his efforts to make a living from the land while also making space for wildlife. We have released birds onto his farm in the past, and it was chosen as a suitable release site for two Barn Owlets we’ve been looking after over the past few weeks.

These two have bonded well in our aviaries

Both these young Barn Owls were found outside their separate nests, which is a problem as parent Barn Owls will only feed offspring in the nest. Despite them being returned to the nestboxes, they were soon found on the ground again, which suggests that either the nest had been disturbed by predators, or that the rest of the chicks had fledged and the parents had abandoned the last chicks for some reason.

Neither had any injuries, so were brought to us for some TLC and a few good meals. While they were with us, we asked Dr Hugh Hanmer to ring them, as there is a very good chance that they might be found breeding in a nest box locally next year.

Dr Hugh Hanmer closing a BTO ring around the leg. This is a painless process and is likened to us wearing a watch, but means that this bird is now an individual with a unique code attached to it so it’s life history can be traced should it be found in the future.

Both these Barn Owls still had some feather growth to finish, but now that they are fully feathered and able to fly, they have been moved to the hack pen ready for release.

We will hopefully install a trail cam to monitor how they’re getting on, although with so many hack pens to monitor at the moment, resources are a bit low on the ground. We appreciate that asking our supporters for a £50-60 trail camera is a big ask, but did you know that you can also buy us an Amazon gift card for any amount, which we can put together to buy the more expensive equipment. You can view our full WishList here.

Kestrel Rescue

Last week, we received a call from local vet nurse, Jenny, about a young Kestrel they had picked up. The youngster was extremely thin and dehydrated so was given some liquid support via a crop tube to give her an immediate boost, but it was touch and go for a while. Jess, who runs our Raptor Hospital, stayed late to keep an eye on her and waited until she had taken some small bits of moistened food and had perked up a bit.

Adult males are usually around 190g, with females around 220g. Recent fledglings are often slightly heavier than adults, so 147g was very worrying.

By the morning, she was much stronger and we hoped she was on the road to recovery.

Later that day, we saw a post on social media that two more were found hanging around outside a local fish and chip shop, close to a busy road! (Images below taken by Stowupland residents Mags, Julie and Tom).

Jess went out to try and catch them but was unsuccessful. Thankfully, Jenny was more successful and brought the second Kestrel in to us over the weekend. Unfortunately we suspect she may have been hit by a car as she has a broken jaw. She is able to eat small amounts of food but is unable to tear food at the moment.

Although these two are siblings, due to the injury they are being kept separate for the time being.

Despite our efforts, the third Kestrel was found hit by a car on the road later that day. Whilst it’s upsetting for everyone involved that we were unable to save all of the youngsters, at least we can help two of them. They will stay with us until they are both recovered, then we’ll find a local site to release them at, away from roads.

Donk the Little Owl

Every so often we get a bird brought into our Raptor Hospital and it defies the odds to survive!

Donk when he first arrived, looking very sorry for himself.

This Little Owl came in last week after the finder witnessed it being attacked by a larger bird. It was evident he had a massive cranial trauma causing the entire head to bulge in one location and the eyes to double in size. He was also displaying huge neurological symptoms including body inversion and 'stargazing' (when the head twist and turns on itself, making it look like the bird is staring up at the sky)

Because of this there was no intention of offering solid food as it would risk choking if the swallowing reflex was hindered, so he was started on regular liquid feeds and an intensive treatment to try and reduce the cranial swelling. Miraculously the next morning he had improved, although not able to stand, the swelling had receded and you could see there were some motor improvements so we made the decision to give him a chance.

Still a bit wobby but at least he’s standing by himself

With some incredibly supportive care from the whole team he was fed multiple times throughout the day a mix of liquid feeds and occasional small solid meals (which he started responding to) and each day his motor skills improved. He is now taking food from us unsupported and able to swallow without help, and perch without falling over. Although time will tell if he has permanent damage or not, getting him to the stage where he can start feeding unassisted is a major milestone in his recovery.

Food Museum Owlets released

Three Tawny Owlets ready for release

The Food Museum in Stowmarket installed a hack pen a few months ago and have been assisting us with our rehabilitation of wild birds of prey that have ended up in our Raptor Hospital.

With a large number of Tawny Owlets taking up aviary space, we moved the three largest Owlets to the empty hack site following the release of a Buzzard.

Sarah, Percy and Ginger were moved last month and we installed a trail camera to monitor their behaviour. It was lovely to see them interacting with each other and reacting to the local wildlife, including, we think, hunting for their own prey!

After a few weeks of building their fitness, Tom was pleased to open the hatch to give the Owlets access to the wild. The moment was caught on camera below.

The Museum will continue to feed the Owlets until they stop visiting the site.

Impact of Plastics on Small Mammals

We were concerned to recently hear about a study conducted by the Mammal Society, the University of Exeter and the University of Sussex, which looked at the levels of plastic found in small mammal faeces (Click here for full article)

The threat of plastics is well documented amongst sea animals, but it can be hard for us to link plastic pollution as a threat to the Birds of Prey we look after. This research shows that samples from Wood Mouse, Field Vole and Brown Rat (all common prey species for UK Raptors) contained microplastics.

Whilst these microplastics may be too small for us to see without technology, they could be the cause of the drastic declines in Hedgehogs (which were also found to have plastic contamination in their faeces) that have led to them being listed as Vulnerable to Extinction.

This discovery could be contributing to declining mammal populations, but also to that of Birds of Prey, who rely on many of these species as a main source of food. This could potentially be linked to lower breeding success or overall survival, as plastic concentrations build up in the body. We already know that plastics leach chemicals into water, but the impact of these chemicals when ingested as less documented.

We will be following subsequent research closely and would like to encourage researchers to consider the long term impacts on the whole ecosystem, including apex predators.


Read the full report on Ingestion of plastics by terrestrial small mammals by following this link.


New hack pen ready for use

With our Raptor Hospital busier than ever, we’ve been struggling to find safe locations to build our hack pens.

Hack pens are used to release many of our patients, particularly those who have stayed with us for some time. They allow the birds to acclimatise back into the wild by being sited in remote locations where human disturbance is limited. We visit every few days to drop off food, but the pens are designed to allow small rodents from the local population to enter, encouraging the bird/s in residence to hunt.

This allows the birds to build up fitness, and we can remotely monitor these pens using trail cameras to assess when the birds are ready for release.

Following a conversation with the owners of Kenton Hall, we were delighted to be invited to build our largest hack pen to date in a secluded area of their woodland.

This pen will provide a home to the remaining Tawny Owlets that we’ve had in our Hospital over the last few months. These six Owlets were all found abandoned or in unusual locations and needed some help from us. To avoid imprinting, we placed them all together in one of our Hospital aviaries, where they bonded and have formed a giant owlet family!

In order for us to see if our releases are successful, these Owlets have all been ringed, in the hope that they will be found breeding nearby in the future.

One of the Owlets being ringed by Jess, under supervision from BTO ringer Dr Hugh Hanmer

The Owlets were moved to the hack pen last week and are now settling in and taking in the sights and sounds of their new home. In the next few weeks the pen will be opened and monitored for signs of Owlets returning for food.

We are very grateful to Kenton Hall for this partnership, and to the Lord Belstead Charitable Trust, Geofffrey Burton Charitable Trust and Mrs L D Rope Charitable Trust for their funding and support which has allowed us to build yet another hack pen for our Hospital.

Dry weather causing problems for Little Owls

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had a number of young Little Owls who have needed our help in the Raptor Hospital. Each one was a newly fledged youngster found starving and unable to fly.

Two Little Owlets found starving but now in our care.

At this time of year, it is typical to get calls about fledglings who are just learning about the big world outside their nest, but usually it’s just that they have maybe left a bit too early before their feathers have grown fully. In all the cases we’ve had in this year, the chicks have been very thin, which suggests that they have been unable to find enough food.

Normally, when chicks leave the nest, the parents will continue to feed them for a little while, bringing them a variety of food. For Little Owls, this should be nice, juicy rodents and small birds to allow the chicks to put on some fat reserves.

Unfortunately, the pellets that have been produced by the Little Owls that have come in have been packed with insects, particularly Isopods such as Woodlice and Pillbugs and beetles. One individual pellet contained the remains of at least 3 Cockchafers or May Bugs, those large, blundering beetles which sound a bit like a low flying plane when they emerge and start flying in May!

Whilst Little Owls are quite happy surviving off invertebrates, these are typically worms. With the dry weather we’ve had recently, this suggests that earthworms and other favourable insects (such as grasshoppers) are in short supply or harder to find. It’s possible that the young Little Owls haven’t quite sussed out how to catch a rodent or bird, which would make a decent meal due to their size, so have been relying on easy pickings.

We also suspect that something may have happened to some of the adult birds, as there have been reports of increased Kestrel activity near where some of the Little Owls were found, and Kestrels will predate on Little Owls, especially when the Kestrels have young of their own to care for.

Thankfully, all of the young Little Owls brought to us have just needed a few good meals, and they will all be released together in one of our Hack pens, so that we can supplementary feed them until they learn to hunt themselves and disperse.

We're WINNERS!

A few months ago we asked our followers to vote for us in the Dobbies Living in the Community Fund. We were very pleased to hear that we won the local round, and couldn’t wait to get down to our local Dobbies store at Woodbridge to chat through our plans with JayJay.

Our appeal was to add something special to our sensory garden for visitors to enjoy. Although we would love to add a water feature and wind chimes to help create a peaceful environment, these are not available from Dobbies, so we’ve opted for some colourful plants which will look, smell and feel great for visitors of all ages. We are exploring other avenues to acquire these though, and have added wind chimes to our Amazon WishList, should anyone be kind enough to donate.

Keeper Jennie with JayJay at Dobbies Woodbridge

Following our meeting with JayJay, we are looking forward to receiving our first batch of plants later this month, which will include Lavenders, Hydrangeas, Lupins and Agapanthus to add some colour, scent and structure to our Sensory Garden flower beds. We will also be receiving some hanging baskets to help brighten up some of our fences and walls. Later in the year we will also receive some winter bulbs such as Daffodils and Croci, which will help add some colour over the winter months.

Centre Manager Maz said: “We are so grateful to our supporters for voting for us, and to Dobbies for giving us some advice on how to improve this important area for our visitors. The Sensory Garden is well used by visitors, and we wish to create a calm and tranquil area for those visitors who need some space to reflect. With the colourful additions we have planned, we hope this area will be enjoyed for years to come.”

New guests in the Hedgehog Hotel

All of our Spring guests at the Hedgehog Hotel have now been collected for release! As we had some spare “rooms”, Paula from Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue decided we could help by taking on some family groups.

Wendy

Wendy came into Suffolk Prickles last year and she had lost her front leg due to another animal attacking her, probably a fox. The leg was taken at the joint. We were able to stop any infection and because she is missing a front leg, she cannot dig for food in the wild or do some of the normal things that hedgehogs would be able to do, so it was decided she would be better off in our enclosed garden where we could monitor her regularly. During the winter months, we bring the hedgehogs into the lodge as they can be vulnerable to rat predation while hibernating. Then we return them out to the garden or other suitable space in the spring. Just before this happened this year, one of the male hedgehogs who was being rehabilitated escaped into Wendy’s pen! And now we have the result!

Wendy with her four Hoglets. They are individually colour coded to assist with monitoring their weight, but this is rubbed off before release so it doesn’t draw unwanted attention to them by predators.

Wendy has been a fabulous mum. The hoglets are now three weeks old and it is really important they learn as many natural skills from mum before they go for soft release to one of our monitored sites, so the pens at our Hedgehog Hotel are perfect for this. When they are a little older they will go to another larger pen that will contain lots of things to encourage foraging and materials for nest building at the place where they will eventually be released.

Wendy is a pro at getting on the scales.

The smallest of Wendy’s hoglets.

Summer

Summer was one of the first group of Hedgehogs we had stay in our Hotel. She arrived at Prickles last year as a young Hedgehog with her brother. Jerry had an injury which meant he needed a bit of extra time to build up his fitness before being released again. The two of them very much enjoyed exploring the large pens we have here, and we were confident that they could both be released together near where they had been found. During their stay with us, one of the other male Hedgehogs decided to go for a wander one evening and was found in Summer and Jerry’s pen. A few weeks later, during their daily clean, we were surprised to find Summer had delivered a baby!

Summer with her son Winter (named because of his grey-ish colouration

Hedgehogs are very susceptible to disturbance, so we quickly put everything back exactly as it had been, and moved Jerry to a spare pen. Jerry was, by now, ready for release, so Paula took him back to his home range, but we couldn’t move Summer while she had an infant. With advice and guidance from Paula, we’re pleased to say that Winter has thrived and is now growing into a happy and confident young Hoglet. He is a few days younger (we think) to Wendy’s offspring, but being an only child he has quickly caught up with them in size and weight.

Winter is a confident young Hoglet and we are enjoying watching him and the other babies develop

Ringer turned rescuer

A couple of weeks ago, Jess arranged for Dr Hugh Hanmer to pay us a visit to ring some more of our Hospital patients who were almost ready for release.

A healthy wild bird would not be calm enough to approach or pick up.

On the drive to Stonham Aspal, Hugh spotted a bird on the side of the road, so pulled over for a closer look to discover an adult Buzzard which was dazed. He was able to throw a jumper over it and brought it to the Hospital for Jess to have a look at. We suspect that it had been clipped by a vehicle as there were no obvious injuries.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a large female, who was suffering from quite severe mite damage to her feathers. We suspect that she had picked these up on her nest and was now moulting into some new feathers to replace the damaged ones. She was given treatment for this and kept under observation for a few days while she recovered from concussion.

New and old primaries (flight feathers) on the wing, showing mite damage.

By the end of the week, she was fighting fit. so Education Officer and Ringer Susan was asked to release her near where she was found. She was so keen to go, we had to cover the airholes in the box to keep her calm for the short journey to her release; a very different bird to the one that arrived! As you can see from the video, she flew off well, before landing in a tree and disturbing a magpie. The magpie didn’t take too kindly to the intrusion but the Buzzard soon flew off again over the fields away from any major roads. Hopefully she’ll stay clear of them in the future!

More Owl Babies ringed

This year we’ve seen an unprecedented number of Tawny Owlets need assistance form us! It seems that no sooner do we invite Dr Hugh Hanmer to come and ring the birds we have ready for release, more come in!

Hugh recently came down to supervise Jess and Susan ringing four young Tawny Owlets, plus a young Little Owl to add some variety.

The first one to be ringed was taken to vets after being found in the middle of a field being attacked by crows. This was an older chick, who was already pretty well feathered but with no indication where they came from, they w ere brought in to be assessed, After a day under observation in case of any injuries, they were put in our large outdoor aviary with the other Owlets to assess flight and balance. As soon as they were released, this Owlet flew a few laps of the aviary, then perched on a branch and proceeded to call repeatedly.

Little and Large! Two Tawny Owlets currently in our care.

When this one was ringed, we suspect that they might be a female, due to her size and aggressive nature. Nicknamed Giant Ginger by the team, because of her gorgeous gingery plumage, she was significantly larger than the other Owlets in the aviary. We took the decision to move her to our Hack Pen at the Food Museum in Stowmarket, with the two older chicks from earlier in the season, and she has settled in well with them. These three will soon have the hatch opened so that they can venture out into the wild.

“Giant Ginger” has unusually reddish feathers

The second Owlet to be ringed was the youngest, having been found around 2 weeks of age after a period of wet weather. It was far too young to be out of the nest and was weak and disorientated.

This young Owlet wasn’t too impressed by the ringing procedure

The third to be ringed was found by a cyclist and brought in by one of our Owlreach volunteers. This was also the producer of the massive Pellet which caused much excitement when it was dissected.

This Owlet showing off it’s new ring - this is a unique alpha numeric code which means that if this Owl is found again after release, we will be notified

The fourth was found on someone’s drive but with no nearby woodlands nearby was deemed necessary to bring it in to us.

Ringing requires specialist equipment and training. Education Officer Susan is close to having Owls added to her ringing permit.

These three Owlets remain at SOS for now with Bill, but will soon be relocated to a couple of hack sites nearby. We try to choose sites where there is plenty of habitat to avoid too much competition with resident birds. Unfortunately, with good quality woodlands at a premium locally, it is inevitable that our release sites may be part of an existing territory. However, we generally find that adults are more tolerant of youngsters and that once the young Owlets have had time to adjust to life in the wild, they soon disperse and find a new place to live.

The Little Owl was found in the middle of a road and brought in as it was thought it may have been hit by a car. After being checked over it was found to be dehydrated so was kept under observation for a couple of days. It was reluctant to eat initially but after some perseverance from our team, decided it quite liked the taste of mouse and was soon eating by itself. This youngster had likely fledged from nearby and was unfortunate to find itself near a road. It will be returned for release near where it was found, but well away from the road!

Little Owls require smaller rings which can be a bit more fiddly to fit.

Later that day, after Hugh had left, we had another Tawny Owlet come in, followed by another one the next day! This brings us up to 9 in total so far this year!

Susan enquired amongst other ringers and the general nationwide thoughts are that Tawny Owls had a very successful breeding season last year, so this year there are more adults attempting to breed in sub-optimal sites. Add to this the fact that locally we are aware of many established woodlands that were hit by the storms and lost several old trees, and it would suggest that Tawny Owls are simply struggling to find suitable places to nest.

If you’d like to help, you can find details on how to build an Owl box here.

Debenham Guides gain their Big Hoot Badge

We are pleased to be working with the Ipswich Big Hoot Trail this summer and were delighted when the Suffolk Scouts and Girl Guides announced a new badge for their young people to complete.

The Hoot Badge requires participants to learn All About Owls, including how many types of Owls there are, where they live and what they eat.

Debenham Guides completed several of the challenges in the weeks prior to their visit, including a Scavenger Hunt to find items that spelled out THE BIG HOOT, completed an Owl Drive and Quiz, did some Owl crafts and became Pellet Detectives.

Leader Bethany arranged a visit for the Guides and Rainbows and they enjoyed a sunny visit to the Sanctuary. They had a guided walk from our Education Officer, Susan, who was on hand to answer their questions. Due to the heat, many of the Owls were showing off how they are NOT waterproof by taking a bath!

The highlight of their visit was the Flying Display, where the group got to take part in our popular Food Chains game, and watched some of our birds flying freely above their heads.

Guide Alice said “I liked seeing all the different types of Barn Owl & learning about them; I didn’t realise there was more than one type! I also liked seeing the Hedwig look alike!”

One of the parents said “My two really enjoyed the owl day and actually got a lot out of it. They told me so much when we got home and in the car. They particularly liked seeing baby owls and the flying display, especially when the Red Kite flew away! (He did come back eventually, but was enjoying catching some thermals and demonstrating how manoeuvrable Red Kites can be) Martha loved acting as a grasshopper (in the Food Chains game) and Elba told me loads of facts. Great trip that my two girls got a lot out of, thank you.”

At the end of their visit, Susan presented the Girls with their badges, and was honoured to be presented with one herself!

Volunteers Week 22

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we have a team of dedicated volunteers who help us with all manner of tasks. From cleaning aviaries to preparing food, gardening and maintenance roles, as well as plenty of visitor engagement and helping with events and fundraising, we are indebted to these people.

Some of our volunteers have been with us for years, others just for a few months, but one thing that they all love is the opportunity to help out an organisation like us and see what they’re doing makes a difference.

“Life’s never dull or boring when it’s a Jan day, and most definitely not clean!”

Earlier this year, we searched for Owl Reach Volunteers to assist with transporting injured birds to our Raptor Hospital on site. We were taken aback by the response and ran three successful introductory training sessions for over 30 people! Some of these have already been put to work, acting as a taxi service for birds found by members of the public who are unable to bring the bird to us themselves. Some have even helped with the release of these birds after a short stay in our Hospital.

This Little Owl was found by a member of the public and taken to a vets some distance away from the Sanctuary. An Owl Reach Volunteer collected it for us, and a couple of weeks later was able to release it near where it was found.

In addition to our individual volunteers, we’re always happy to have help from local businesses or organisations looking for a team building or volunteer day for their staff. Over the autumn we welcomed AXA XL who helped us relocate and rebuild our woodland bird hide, and in the spring we welcomed Hurren and Hope who helped us repaint 3 aviaries ready for the summer season. Without the help of corporate volunteer days, big projects would take much longer; with the help of these teams, we get it done in 1 day! A massive thanks to the companies who have already helped us in this way, and we look forward to welcoming a few more over the coming months.

The team from Hurren and Hope did a great job repainting some of our aviaries.

Volunteer Co-ordinator Beckie says “Without the amazing help our volunteers give us, we wouldn't be able to do the work we do! We can’t thank our volunteers enough, they are incredible!”

Dolly the Pellet Detective

Readers may remember that a recent intake to our Raptor Hospital was a tiny Tawny Owl that was found by a cyclist on the ground. Jess, who runs our Raptor Hospital, took the Owlet home with her to look after overnight, and was surprised a few hours later when it coughed up this huge pellet!

The Tawny Owlet looked much more comfortable after producing this massive pellet!

The whole team was intrigued to find out what this Owlet had been fed on before it fell out of the nest, so Jess brought it in for Education Officer Susan to investigate.

Dolly, who has recently become the newest member of our full time staff, was also interested, and on a rainy afternoon she joined Susan to become a Pellet Detective.

The pellet was rather large!

The pellet measured about 7cm in length, and was quite chunky, so we were excited to see what secrets it held! As Dolly pulled it apart she sorted the fluff into one pile and the bones or other bits of interest into another pile.

All our findings

The first surprise was some beetle wing cases, which were later added to by two beetle legs.

The remains of a beetle

The second surprise was a Common Shrew lower jaw bone. We could identify it as a Shrew by it’s shape and the colour of the teeth. Shrews are insectivores so have lots of sharp and pointy teeth, which are often tinged with red as they absorb the toxins in the insects they feed on. Shrew jaws are also L shaped, with the front incisors sticking straight out the front, whereas other rodent jaws the front incisors curve upwards.

From the size, we know this is a Common Shrew, as it’s about 1cm long. A Pygmy Shrew would be much smaller and a Water Shrew would be much larger!

The biggest surprise was when Dolly said “I think I’ve found some seeds?” As Owls are carnivorous, this was highly unusual and upon closer inspection, Dolly changed her mind and said “it looks like an Armadillo paw?” At this point, Susan couldn’t hide her curiosity any more and went over for a closer look.
”Could it be a mole?” asked Susan.

Using the Guide to British Owls and Owl pellets, produced by the Field Studies Council and the Hawk and Owl Trust, the mass of fluff and tiny bones, with some distinct long white claws on the end certainly looked like a match. And other bones seemed to match this conclusion.

Moles spend their whole lives underground, digging burrows through the soil. For this reason, they have a specialised skeleton which allows them to have flattened bodies but also massive areas for muscles in their front limbs.

Whilst mole remains are sometimes found in Owl Pellets, they are certainly not a main prey species and Owls would just opportunistically hunt them if they venture above ground. We’re guessing that a mole was brought back to the nest and that this Owlet managed to consume the front leg of the mole before it left the nest.

It’s quite normal for there not to be a full skeleton in pellets, and this has provided us an interesting insight into what our local Owls have been eating!

Long-eared Owlet ready for release

The baby Long-eared Owl has been sent out for release at a local nature reserve.

At the weekend, Jess and Tim met Sarah from Suffolk Wildlife Trust to build our Owlet hack pen at a secret location. Although Long-eared Owls aren’t rare in East Anglia, with a stronghold in Thetford Forest, they can be sensitive to disturbance, particularly during the breeding season.

This Long-eared Owlet was found on the reserve and we suspect that it had been pulled from the nest by a predator then dropped. After a couple of days in our care, it showed itself to be a fighter and we were keen to get it back into the wild as soon as possible.

The hack pen was built by one of our volunteers on site, then transported to the release site. It took Jess and Tim some time to attach the legs and get the pen into the correct location. It is situated on the edge of a dense woodland and an open heath, which provides the perfect habitat for Long-eared Owls to roost and hunt in.

The Owlet was then transferred into the hack pen where it will stay for a few days before the hatch is opened, allowing it to explore freely. Sometimes this process can be instantaneous as the birds fly out as soon as they are released and never return. Other times the birds may feel safe in their hack pen and remain local to it for a week or so before venturing further afield.

Sarah will install a remote camera at the release site to monitor this little one over the next few days and once it’s released, so we’ll share the footage when we receive it.



This hack pen, was built using materials funded by the Lord Belstead Charitable Trust, Geofffrey Burton Charitable Trust and Mrs L D Rope Charitable Trust and we are very grateful for this support.

Another Owl Baby

Baby Tawny Owls seem to be needing lots of help this year, which we’re only too happy to provide.

This little one was found by a cyclist, having being blown out of the tree. Unfortunately, it had hit the floor with a bit of a thump and had some bruising, so we asked one of our OwlReach volunteers to collect it and bring it in.

Upon arrival, it was assessed and given some pain medication before being taken home with Jess for 24 hour care. After a few hours, she opened the box to check on it, only to discover it had produced this HUGE pellet! It must have been so uncomfortable before coughing this up, as you can see, the pellet is about the same size as a full grown adult vole.

Having regurgitated it’s last wild meal, the Owlet enjoyed a slightly more manageable meal of mouse, before settling down for a nap. The soft toy provides some comfort for young animals that have been separated from their parents and siblings, but this little one will soon join our other Owl Babies Sarah, Percy and Bill in our small aviary, where they can grow in confidence and strength before their released at a local hack site.

More ringing of Hospital patients, plus some extra!

With more birds almost ready for release from the Hospital, we invited Dr Hugh Hanmer back to ring the remaining birds with Jess and Susan.

Little Bill, the smallest of the Tawny Owls has grown since they first arrived and is catching up with Sarah and Percy. They received a ring and were weighed before being returned to the creche. Sarah is already perching, and once the other two are able to get up to the perches in their small aviary they will be ready to be transferred to a hack pen for release.

Bill showing off his new BTO ring.

Netty the Tawny Owl has made a remarkable recovery after their entanglement. They were given pain relief for a couple of days but was soon showing signs that they were ready for release again. They were ringed on the day of their release, and their feathers showed us that they are at least 2 years old, but quite possibly a much older bird. Certainly, from their brief time in our care, they seem very experienced and we hope they will enjoy many more years of hunting.

Netty, ringed and ready for release!

The Tawny Owl that was handed into a local vet practice has also recovered well and has shown itself to be very resilient. After spending the weekend in a our intensive care room, they were moved to one of our aviaries so we could assess their flight. Thankfully, there were no injuries besides the head trauma, which has now recovered. Upon ringing, this was also discovered to be an adult bird of at least 2 years of age, but again, possibly much older.

Ringing is done under licence using specialist equipment. It causes no harm to the birds, as we know the oldest Tawny Owl was ringed as a chick in the nest, and found over 23 years later just 3km away from it’s natal nest!

The Tawny Owl found in a ditch is still under observation but has been improving every day. This bird is on the small side, so we suspect they’re a male, and looking at the feathers, they are a second year bird (hatched in 2020.)

Over 60,000 Tawny Owls have been ringed since the BTO Ringing Scheme started!

Whilst we do receive lots of Tawny Owls every year to our Raptor Hospital, it’s unusual to have so many adults, apparently not in breeding condition at this time of year. There could be several reasons for this, so we will pass on our observations to other Owl groups and see if it’s a pattern seeing elsewhere.

The Kestrel found with the injured neck was also ringed, as it is now much better and will hopefully be released soon. This male was also at least 2 years old, so we hope that by ringing him, he may be found breeding in the future.

Kestrels are usually quite feisty, and this tenacious attitude helps them survive in the wild.

After the Hospital patients were ringed, Susan (who is permitted to ring some species under licence) ran an impromptu ringing demonstration for some of our staff and volunteers of a nest of 7 Blue Tits. In contrast to Birds of Prey, these birds fledge and leave the nest after just 12-15 days, so the window for ringing them is quite small. We have several nest boxes across our site, but only one has been occupied this year.

One of the seven baby Blue Tits that were nesting in one of our boxes.

Just before Hugh left, Jade found a young Starling near our Vulture aviary. Starlings make use of the roof spaces in the aviaries and this little one had clearly fallen from the nest and been unable to get back up. It was promptly ringed and placed near our hedging, with mum and dad observing from the rooftop. The Starling managed to hop into the lower branches and disappear into the vegetation, so we’re confident it will be fine.

Young Starlings will be descending on gardens across the country, so it was good to ring one of the many that live here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary.

Birds ringed ready for release

With our Raptor Hospital reopened, we took the opportunity to invite Dr Hugh Hanmer from the British Trust for Ornithology to come and ring some of our patients who will be released over the next few weeks.

Teddy and Tilly the Tawny Owls

Teddy and Tilly the Tawny Owls were victims of our Avian Influenza lockdown. Both Owls were about ready for release when we received the news that we had to close our hospital. As a result of this, we were not allowed to release any birds either. We didn’t want them to lose any more fitness, so we hastily built a hack pen in a quiet area of the Sanctuary for them to move into. Although they have been provided with food, our trail cameras showed that they were also hunting for themselves, eating small rodents and insects which found themselves in the pen.

Normally, once birds go into a hack pen we do not disturb them apart from when feeding, and opening the hatch when the time comes for release. However, it was decided that ringing these two birds wouldn’t cause them any undue stress and would allow us to give them a final health check before letting them go.

With Hugh’s experience, we were able to determine that both are second year birds, and were a healthy weight. Tilly was considerably better muscled compared to Teddy, which suggests that she’s been doing most of the hunting in the pen!

Barn Kestrel

This male Kestrel’s release was also delayed due to Bird Flu. He was found in a barn with with a broken wing which we splinted to allow it to heal. This took a few weeks and he was ready for release when we were locked down. We put him in our largest aviary so that he had plenty of space to fly around, and once the restrictions were lifted, we arranged for his finder to collect him for release.

He was ringed the day before collection, which allowed Jess to assess the heal. Broken bones heal by rebuilding around the break, which for birds can often lead to bumps which would be detrimental to their survival (especially in such a streamlined bird as a Kestrel). Thankfully, Jess couldn’t feel any callouses near the break area so the Kestrel was given a ring before being returned to his barn.

Wonk the Little Owl

The young Little Owl has recovered remarkably well and will soon be returned to near where it was found so we took the opportunity to give it a ring aswell. Hugh confirmed that it is a juvenile from this year, and we admired the pink blush of the under wing plumage. This shows that there is still a blood supply as the feathers are still growing, but once fully grown, the pink will fade. Blood supply is still visible under UV light, and this is a useful tool for ageing Owls in the field, as older feathers won’t glow the same as new feathers.

Long-eared Owlet

Not many Long-eared Owls are ringed in the UK (in 2020 less than 200 were ringed, compared to over 6000 Barn Owls!), so Hugh wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to contribute towards the national dataset. Although still quite young, we think that this is a female, based on the plumage patterns that had already come through. Despite us having kept Long-eared Owls in our collection for years, this was a perfect example of wild and captive bird information being shared, as Jess hadn’t realised that this species is sexually dimorphic, meaning that males and females have different plumage. It is quite subtle in some species, and there is often an overlap but you learn something new everyday!

Tawny Owlets

When Hugh arrived, we had one Tawny Owlet for him to ring. But while he was with us, a second Owlet arrived. Both were ringed by Jess under Hugh’s supervision. The UK ringing scheme uses split rings made from Aluminium Alloy, Incoloy and Stainless Steel (depending on the size of the bird), which are fitted with specialist pliers. These rings are the equivalent to the birds wearing a bracelet or a watch and do not impact on the survival of the birds once released.

By ringing our Hospital birds before release, we are not only contributing towards the national database held by the BTO to monitor bird populations and health, but we can also assess whether our rehabilitation is successful. It is hoped that some of the Owls and Kestrels might be found breeding in a nestbox monitored by ourselves or other ringers in Suffolk, and the Long-eared Owl may well migrate once older, giving us an insight into where these birds get to!

For more information about the ringing scheme, please visit: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/ringing