Winter maintenance for nest boxes

With the Barn Owl breeding season coming to an end, our team have been out doing some essential maintenance of their nest boxes across Suffolk.

Jay and Mat recently installed a new box on a wildlife friendly farm near Ipswich. This farm is a new one for our scheme, and already had three old boxes in the fields, and a further four in the outbuildings. But after a few years of neglect, some of the boxes were in need of repair. The guys found a suitable tree in a damp meadow, which is perfect hunting ground for a Barn Owl, and hoisted up a new box to replace the one at the edge of the field that was falling apart (and inhabited by squirrels!)

This farm has a variety of habitats for our native Raptor species, and on every visit the team spot something new! With the landowner, Ben, being very happy to help, we already have a hack pen installed to release birds from our Raptor Hospital should they need it. Providing extra nest boxes will hopefully help them in their rehabilitation journey. We hope to possibly add a couple of boxes for Tawny Owls and Kestrels over the next few months to support the wildlife that calls this place home.

We are incredibly grateful to all the landowners who allow us to monitor nest boxes on their land, and to everyone who has donated to our nest box appeal. If you would like more information about this, please contact us.

New home for Nelson

Nelson our Burrowing Owl has moved to a new home!

Over the summer, Nelson was rehomed to Screech Owl Sanctuary in Cornwall. This follows several months of discussion amongst the team as to the best interests for Nelson.

Burrowing Owls are well known for being social birds, often living in groups of up to 10-15 birds on the open grasslands and semi-deserts of America. Nelson has always enjoyed the company of our staff and volunteers, but when we introduced a female called Thelma, we were disappointed that she was shunned. This can happen when birds are hand reared, as Nelson was, because they don’t understand the intricate social cues from members of their own species.

We were concerned that Nelson would forever be a bit of a loner, and now had a second Burrowing Owl who might get lonely. So when we were approached by Screech to see if we had any small surplus birds, we wondered if a change of scenery might do Nelson some good.

He left us over the summer holidays and made the long journey down to Cornwall. Upon arrival, he was placed in quarantine for a short period, which is standard practice for transferring birds between collections. During this time, the team at Screech got to know his little quirks and began to realise how big a personality he has!

Nelson has now settled in well at Screech and been paired with their female, Athene. They have a new aviary to call home and it is hoped that they will breed in the future.

Nelson has settled in well at his new home in Cornwall

Meanwhile, back at SOS, our own Thelma has found love with new boy Templeton, who arrived from a private breeder. The two hit it off straight away (possibly due to both being quite young) and are often seen perched together in their aviary watching visitors go by. We also hope that next year we might have the pitter patter of little Owly feet.

Thelma and Templeton are getting to know each other





A Tale of two Shorties

At this time of year, there is always a chance that we might receive a call regarding one of our lesser known Owls - the Short-eared Owl. This species migrates from the main breeding grounds in Scandinavia to warmer climes of Southern Europe, often stopping off in the UK along the way. Bird watchers and photographers flock to the coast to catch a glimpse of these birds flying in off the North Sea.

Over the past week, the team have been excited to have two brought in for us to help. Here are their stories.

The first bird was found under a hedge in a field, no-where near a road. It was picked up by a concerned member of the public, who thought it was a Tawny Owl with a broken wing. Mat went out to collect the bird, and peeking into the box was surprised to find two bright yellow eyes peering up at him. Upon arrival at the Raptor Hospital, the team were dismayed to find a severely broken wing, which had broken the skin and caused a lot of bleeding. Unfortunately, in these cases, we must opt for euthanasia as the success rate of an operation to fix the damage is so low, it compromises the welfare of the bird.

A couple of days later, Susan received a message via her partner Hugh (who does our bird ringing) about another Short-eared Owl that had been found in need of help. This one was found late in the evening on a country road and was very wet and soggy, following the damp weather. It was kept overnight by the finder, then transported to Susan and Hugh for onward transfer to the Raptor Hospital. A quick assessment showed that the bird had no injuries, so they were able to ring and take biometrics. This revealed that the bird was a young male, and therefore undertaking his first migration.

Susan took the Owl to the Hospital for a more thorough assessment, and he was given a protein boost before being taken for release. Unfortunately, the blustery conditions meant he was very reluctant to leave the safety of the box, and after trying several sites with no success, he was returned to the Raptor Hospital for an overnight stay.

The following morning was much calmer, so the team took him to a local site. He was still reluctant to leave, but once tipped gently out of the box, he gathered his bearings and flew off strongly. Everyone marvelled at how huge they appear in flight, yet in the hand they are not much bigger than our Long-eared Owl.

We wish this Owl happy and safe travels and hope that he might be found sometime in the future to reveal where he gets to.

Flood closes SOS for two days!

As we’re sure many will have seen, last Friday Storm Babet arrived in the UK and Mid Suffolk in particular was hit by torrential rain. We expected the day to be wet, but no-one was prepared for the conditions that led to us having to prioritise the safety of our birds, animals and staff!

Our main entrance pathway under a couple of inches of water!

After a night of heavy rain, our staff arrived on site to find our main entrance pathway flooded and water running down the inside wall of the shop. The decision was made to close for the day, as the rain were set to continue until late afternoon. While calls were made to the pre-booked school group to cancel their visit, the team quickly worked their way around the aviaries and enclosures to check on the birds and animals. Most were being very sensible and hiding in their safe, dry boxes, but a few decided that it was a good opportunity to wash away the summer dust!

Rocky enjoyed the shower

Unfortunately, most of the aviaries at SOS2 were already under a couple of inches of water. For our Snowy Owls, who spend most of their time on the ground, this meant that they were severely waterlogged and had to be rescued and rehoused in our dry off-show aviaries until the waters subsided.

Loki the Snowy “duck”

Our Raptor Hospital was also impacted by the flood, with the internal access pathway to the outdoor aviaries over boot height in places! Thankfully, most of our patients were nice and dry in their boxes, and only a couple needed to be brought indoors to dry off in the Intensive Care Ward.

When keeper Luke checked on the Meerkats in the morning, only 9 appeared from their heated Kastle! After a lot of searching, a rather soggy Meerkat appeared from the tunnels. The decision was made to give them access to the indoor encounter area and some heat lamps were installed to help them dry off and warm up.

Shut the door! Our Meerkats definitely didn’t approve of the weather!

With reports coming in that local roads were flooding, and not wanting to find themselves stranded, staff and volunteers prepared to give the birds a brunch feed round instead of the usual late afternoon feed. Everyone got home safe, but many had to take detours to avoid flooded roads.

Wellies required!

On Saturday, when the team arrived to find the main entrance pathway still underwater, and most of the other footpaths were unpassable without wellies, we opted to remain closed. There was debris to clear up and most of the aviaries were still underwater. The Flying Ground was also very waterlogged so we would have been unable to get birds out to fly.

We’re sure floating picnics could catch on!

Thankfully, the rain had stopped late on Friday, and Saturday was mostly dry, so we hoped that the waters would recede. Sunday dawned bright and sunny, and we decided to open. Our weekend volunteers did a sterling job of sweeping clear the pathways and putting out the Riddle Gravestones ready for the Halloween Trail for visitors to start. They then set to work digging extra drainage holes in and around some of the worse-affected aviaries.

With half term now upon us, the whole team will be working to ensure that visitors have an enjoyable visit, but some of our birds may not be on show this week while we monitor the conditions in their usual aviaries. We are very thankful that everyone is accounted for and safe.

Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by the flooding locally and further afield, and we are very grateful for your support at this time.

SOS hosts first Careers Event

We recently hosted our first Careers Event. The day featured talks by our own staff on their own career pathways to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, as well as the opportunity for visitors to chat with some of our contacts who we invited. They included an artist, farmer, conservation organisation and the police.

Chris from the BTO Youth Team, listening to the talks

The day was based at SOS2, our educational building. The stage area was set out with comfy seating, while tables were set up for the various stalls. Outside, Suffolk Police set up a crime scene featuring real animal carcasses (roadkill), which certainly drew in the crowds.

Sophie from Suffolk Rural and Wildlife Crime Unit

As the event was open to all visitors and didn’t require pre-booking, we’re not sure exactly how many additional visitors we had on the day. However, as it had been advertised predominantly to secondary school aged children, the number of teenagers present was certainly higher than an average weekend day, so we can conclude that it was a welcome boost to our visitor number on the day.

Jess brought along a new piece of art for visitors to watch her working on

Those who chatted to our teams were asking about what qualifications, skills and experience is needed to get into the industry. From the talks, they learnt that resilience is critical, as the field is incredibly competitive, with sometimes hundreds of applicants for one job. Another common theme that came out was that it’s ok to divert from your original plan, with many of our staff taking up alternative work, which maybe opened other pathways. Prior to working in their current roles, our staff have worked in retail, cleaning, carpentry, teaching, landscaping, pest control, restaurants, leisure and the armed forces, all of which gave them a variety of skills and experiences which make them valuable members of the team.

Dolly giving her career pathway talk

Following feedback from visitors and stall holders, we hope to run another careers event in the spring, so watch this space for more details!

Special thanks to:

Chris from the British Trust for Ornithology

Jess from Jess Myers Art

Sam from Broughton Hall Farm

Brian and Sophie from Suffolk Rural and Wildlife Crime Unit

Dolly, Nick, Izzy, Susan and Rob who represented SOS and gave talks.

Summer of work with ESV projects

Towards the end of the summer we welcomed several groups of Employer Supported Volunteers from local companies. Each team was tasked with helping us out with various big tasks that had been saved for such occasions, and they all worked very hard!

Here’s a run through of what they got up to!


Willis group came in and were set the challenge to remove our Maze. Working alongside our staff, the group worked incredibly hard to clear the brush as it was cut!

SUEZ group came on two dates, with one group helping to tidy and paint the front of our Owlbarn Offices. The second group were put to work in our Woodland Walk, helping to clear the area ready for us to rebuild the old Squirrel enclosures.

CEVA logistics brought a big team, who were able to give a fresh lick of paint to our Feed Room and the visitor side of our Hospital Aviaries.

Painting jobs may not sound like an important task, but it is important to maintain all of our areas so that they are weatherproof and easy to keep clean, both for the hygiene of our facilities and so that it looks good for visitors.



Volunteer Coordinator Beckie said “We are so grateful to all of our ESV groups who have taken the time to support us this year. With their help, we have managed to start and finish some big jobs which would have taken our small team many weeks to complete.”

Bulldog the Red Kite

We are seeing an increasing number of Red Kites in the local area, and as such, we must be prepared to help them should they get into difficulty.

This Red Kite was brought in to us with a wing injury. However, upon arrival the team were shocked to see that the beak was deformed, earning him the nickname of Bulldog. We were worried that the bird might be struggling to survive, so once we established that there were no breaks, the bird was put in one of our larger outdoor aviaries so we could monitor.

Surprisingly, he was in good condition and managed to eat the food we offered. To test his survival skills, after a week with us, the team presented him with a whole rabbit carcass. This is more like what Red Kites would typically eat in the wild, as they are predominantly scavengers and often scout the roads for roadkill. He devoured the rabbit, showing that his deformed beak was not a hinderance, and suggesting that is was likely an injury he’d had for a while.

We were still concerned about his chanced of surviving after release, so asked two independent vets, including avian specialist Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown MRCVS for their opinions. Both agreed that the beak was likely an injury sustained shortly after hatching, and that it wouldn’t have any impact on it’s long term survival.

With the wing injury now healed and given the go ahead for release, we arranged for Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO to ring this bird before he was released. By looking at the condition and pattern of the feathers, we discovered that this bird was at least 2 years old, but we suspect he was significantly older.

A few days later, Mat and Jade transported this bird back to near where he was found for release. As you can see, he was keen to go and flew off strongly.

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Reg the Tawny Owl

We are always sharing stories about unfortunate birds that are brought into our Raptor Hospital following collisions with vehicles on our roads. This recent case though has hit the headlines!


A family on holiday in the area were driving home late one evening and saw a bird in the road. They slowed down to avoid it but didn’t see where the bird went and assumed that it must have flown to the side at the last minute, as there was nothing in the road when they checked the mirrors.

The next morning, when they went out to the car, there was the unfortunate Tawny Owl with his head jammed behind the number plate! He’d been hanging there all night, and for the remainder of their journey the previous night!

Stuck fast!

The family called us and we were able to give advice on how to carefully extract the bird and bring it to us. Upon arrival, the team were surprised to find the adult bird in very good condition. He was a healthy weight and in excellent condition, apart from a rather sore head. Thankfully, it appear that the bird hadn’t struggled too much as there was no damage to his feathers and apart from a gash across his face, there were no other injuries.

One very lucky owl!

We immediately administered pain relief and some critical care solution to help with the birds recovery. After a couple of days he was able to eat small amounts of food and the swelling had subsided. Once he was able to eat unaided we moved him to one of our outdoor aviaries so that we could monitor his flight. Everything is looking promising so we’re hoping to release him in the area where the family saw him in the road, with instructions to stay away from roads in future!

Looking good in the outdoor aviary.

It’s not our usual policy to post hard-hitting images like the first one above on our social media, but on this occasion we did. As a result of this, the following day we had the BBC on the phone asking for more details! Falconer Dolly spoke to them, which was included on various news programmes. The story has also been picked up by local and national press!

Following multiple name suggestions via the BBC post, we’ve nicknamed this Tawny Owl Reg (thanks partly to the BBC for changing the wording to licence plate, which resulted in lots of comments about the use of English across the pond!)

An update on Lincoln

Visitors over the summer have been asking us how Lincoln, our Bald Eagle, is enjoying his summer holidays, so we asked his best friend Rufus for an update.

In June, we took the decision to allow Lincoln to be reunited with Rufus after almost a year apart. Rufus had worked closely with Lincoln for several years before leaving Suffolk Owl Sanctuary to pursue another line of work. During this time, Rufus built a strong relationship with one of our more powerful birds, and gained his trust. Whilst Lincoln would tolerate our other staff, it was evident that Rufus was his favourite person, and Lincoln would refuse to work for any of our other staff.

When Rufus left us to pursue a new career path, Lincoln fell into what can only be described as depression, and despite our best efforts, his mood swings became more unpredictable and dangerous to our staff.

Rufus offered to house Lincoln over the summer and build up his fitness again to enable free flight, so in June Lincoln moved into a luxury aviary built by Rufus in his garden. Lincoln settled right in and was instantly at ease in these unfamiliar surroundings.

After a few weeks to settle in, Rufus started taking Lincoln out into the countryside where he has permission to fly. To start off with, he just carried Lincoln around on the fist, getting him used to the environment, and letting the local birds suss out if this Eagle was a threat. The first time Rufus let Lincoln fly free, he only attempted a short flat flight across a field margin, but it was enough to show that Lincoln wanted to work with him.

Unfortunately, nature often throws a spanner in the works! Towards the end of the breeding season (late summer), most birds of prey will begin their moult. In wild birds, they usually only replace 2 or 3 feathers on each wing or in the tail each season, as growing feathers is costly and during this time they must still be able to hunt. However, in captive birds, when they are well fed, they frequently drop multiple feathers, leaving them aerodynamically compromised.

Lincoln did just this!

Rufus explained that a combination of Lincoln losing most of his fight feathers and the weather not being ideal for flying an eagle has meant that he’s concentrating on building his confidence and fitness through short bouts of low level flying, rather than the spectacular flights to a drone or kite that Lincoln was performing last year, Given time, we have every confidence that Lincoln will be soaring across the Suffolk skies again, and want to give our thanks once again to Rufus for stepping in to care for his wellbeing.

In the meantime, Lincoln is enjoying the quiet life and appears to have been chatting to our Meerkats about the virtues of sunbathing, something he never did whilst living at SOS!

What our staff get up to after hours...

Whilst most people look forward to the long days and warm temperatures that come with summer to relax in their garden after work, for our Education Officer the summer holidays means one thing - Nightjars!

Nightjars use their huge eyes to navigate at night

Susan has been helping monitor breeding Nightjars in Thetford Forest for 5 years, working with a team of volunteers to locate nests, recording productivity, as well as ringing adults and juveniles. Nightjars are a very interesting looking migratory bird, arriving here in May and departing in August to spend the winter in Africa. These nocturnal birds are known for their eerie sounding calls and their HUGE mouths, which they use to catch moths and other night flying insects.

This Nightjar was caught with a takeaway moth

Thetford Forest is a stronghold for this species, which uses clear-fell areas to nest on the ground, often relying on their superb camouflage to hide amongst the dead bracken, branches and leaves.

Perfect camouflage

With Jess now progressing with her ringing training, Susan and her partner Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO invited her to join them for an evening Nightjarring near Brandon. The team met at the gates and had permission to access the forest tracks. They located a suitable area where Nightjars were known to be active and set two pairs of mist nets in nearby clearings. Upon return to the car, a Nightjar started churring, and was soon joined by at least one other. In addition to the Nightjars, a late flying Hobby was spotted, before it landed in the top of a tall tree to spend the evening!

Once darkness fell, the tapes were switched on. Nightjars are quite territorial and very curious, so will investigate any “imposters” to their patch. Playing a lure attracts them to the nets, but this is all done under licence. After 20 minutes, the first check of the nets resulted in two birds being caught, a female Stonechat and a male Nightjar. Stonechats are a common bycatch as they also use these clear fell areas for feeding and roosting. Susan ringed the Stonechat, which was quickly released to go back to bed!

The Nightjar was already ringed, so Susan went through the process of ageing, sexing and taking biometric measurements while Jess looked on and Hugh wrote it all down. Having internet signal is a luxury not often available in the depths of the forest, but Hugh was able to check the records to confirm our suspicions that this was an older bird (based on the feathers). When Hugh asked Susan to confirm the ring number, they knew something exciting was going to be revealed!

This male Nightjar had last been encountered in 2014, in the same patch of woods, having been ringed the year before as an adult of at least 2 years of age! This means that this bird was at least 12 years old, and at least the second oldest Nightjar to be found in the UK (The oldest has a similar length of time to its record, but was also ringed as an adult, so no definite age!). We can only imagine the stories this bird could tell us, and the miles it has flown migrating to Africa and back every year!

This old boy is at least 12 years old!

The following week, Jess joined the team for what would be the last session of the season. This time, they visited Elveden heath, where Nightjars spend the last week or so fattening up before starting their migration. This session had a background noise of Jets from RAF Lakenheath and Stone Curlews.

The view over Brandon heath as the sun goes down

In total, the team caught seven Nightjars, which gave Jess the opportunity to ring some under the guidance of Hugh and fellow ringing trainer Graham. Jess ringed two juvenile Nightjars, while one of the birds already wearing a ring had been ringed by Hugh the previous year as a chick at the nest a couple of miles away!

Jess ringing her first Nightjar, a juvenile

Discussing the age of the bird by looking at the wing feathers.

Marsh Harrier returned to the wild

This Marsh Harrier was brought in from another rescue after being hit by a car. Whilst the other rescue are very experienced with Raptors, they didn’t have suitable accommodation to give this bird the long term rehabilitation she required. Upon arrival, she was taken for X-Rays which showed no breaks, just soft tissue bruising. She was moved to our quiet off show aviaries to recover and was a model patient.

After a few weeks to recover from her injuries, we arranged to have her flight tested at another facility. She passed the assessment with flying colours, and having been given the go ahead for release by our vets, we arranged for Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO to come in and ring her.

This was a novelty for Hugh, who had never had the opportunity to ring a Marsh Harrier before. The Marsh Harrier was already sexed as a female based on her plumage and was aged as a second year bird.

Once she was ringed, we arranged for Chris, who originally took care of this bird, to come and collect her. She was then driven back to Cambridgeshire near where she was found and released into a suitable area.

Chris said “She went off well. It’s always such an emotional thing to do. I really can’t express how grateful I am to the brilliant team at SOS.”

Vultures in the UK

For International Vulture Awareness Day, our Education Officer wanted to share some stories about Vultures in the UK.


The most recent story comes from 2020, when Bearded Vulture Vigo spent four months touring the East of England. Thanks to a couple of dropped feathers, geneticists from the Vulture Conservation Foundation were able to share her story, discovering that she was actually named “Flysch” and had hatched in July 2019 in the north west Alps of France, somewhere between Geneva and Mont Blanc. Her story was more remarkable because her father was a bird hatched in that same region, while her mother was a captive reared bird from a Swiss Zoo, and was released in 2006 in north east Italy!

Vigo spent some time in the Peak District. Photo by Indy Greene

Susan confesses “I am not a twitcher, but Vigo was such an impressive bird, I did venture out a couple of times in an attempt to catch a glimpse. On both occasions, we arrived at her last known site just having missed her, and spent a few hours driving around the Cambridgeshire/ Lincolnshire Fens staring at every large bird in the sky. We were not successful.”

Despite Susan "dipping” the Vulture, many others got very close views! Photo by Philip Todd.

Vigo was only the second Bearded Vulture to be seen in the UK, the first making an appearance in 2016. This bird was first spotted in Gwent, near the Severn Crossing Bridge, before being seeing across Dartmoor and Cornwall a few days later. The identity of this young bird was unknown, but it will have been a wild-hatched bird, likely from the Pyrenees or Alps.

Bearded Vulture coming into land. Photo by University of Cape Town.

Vultures have long being kept as “pets” or curiosities by the upper classes in society, and when Susan was informed of an interesting story by colleague Catherine, she decided to look into this further.

John Henry Gurney was a Quaker banker based in Norwich in the mid-late 19th-century. The family were great philanthropists, funding many charitable, artistic, architectural and commercial innovations throughout the city. The Gurney men were all keen ornithologists, artists and musicians who between them wrote many books about birds and the natural world. John Henry has an impressive collection of birds of prey at his home in Catton, including the infamous Mrs Stockings, a Lappet Faced Vulture so named because of her white legs. Apparently, Mrs. Stockings was known to peck the "petticoats and gaiters" of Gurney’s society friends, but they all loved her for it!! She would also terrorise the children by chasing them around the yard!

Extract from “Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society, 1890-91”

Around the same time, Lord Lilford Thomas Littleton, 4th Baron of Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire had also amassed a large collection of birds, which he kept in aviaries within the grounds of the estate. Included in his collection were two free-flying Bearded Vultures, which he must have collected on his extensive travels around the Mediterranean.

Interestingly, Lord Lilford is also responsible for the introduction of Little Owls into the UK.


Happy Retirement Jennie

Over the weekend, the team said a fond farewell to Keeper Jennie, who has retired after a number of years working with us.

Jennie originally worked in the shop and office for a few years when we first opened. She then returned to Stonham as a Keeper at Jennies Ark, but was also working with us. When we merged with Jennie’s Ark in 2019, we offered Jennie the position of Keeper, where she was able to put her prior experience to good use looking after our Meerkat mob, Red Squirrels, Ferrets, small rodents and more recently Silver Foxes and Invertebrates.

Jennie has not only been caring for our collection of captive mammals over the years, but has been instrumental in our partnership with Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue, taking care of the Hedgehogs placed in our care before their release.

She has also taken responsibility for much of the gardening around site, and through her additional role as fundraiser, she has managed to acquire some beautiful plants from generous donators and well-wishers to brighten up the Sanctuary for visitors.

We couldn’t let Jennie leave quietly, so on Saturday she was invited to help fly some of the birds in both displays. Boris, Rio and Auckland all flew beautifully between the falconers, giving the audience a few free haircuts along the way.

In the afternoon display, with a full house of visitors, Jennie was called to the front by Falconer Rob, who announced her retirement and gave her a special role to play in our popular Food Chain Game! With young volunteers from the audience taking up the parts of Barn Owl, Shrew, Spider, Grasshopper and the remaining audience, including staff being the crucial Wild Grasses, Jennie was given the role of the…Bunny Rabbit!

After a final check and feed for the hedgehogs, Jennie was summoned to the shop, where the whole team were waiting with a bag of goodies for her to enjoy at her leisure. But a couple needed a bit of a photo shoot, so Education Officer Susan invited Jennie for one last Meerkat encounter, including her unique mug made by Falconer Izzy and the only sort of Meerkat anyone would want to take home with them!

We’re sure that visitors will miss her Meerkat talks, that were always full of enthusiasm and fun facts.

Sadly absent from the occasion. the Trustees of the Charity were nevertheless full of gratitude for the varied and valuable services Jennie has provided during her time with us, which also included some thoughtful insights into her work, and always on hand for a bit of counselling garnered from her many years of experience when needed.  The Trustees wish Jennie the very best in her retirement, though of course hope to have the opportunity to catch up with her on what we hope will be frequent future visits to say hello.

Ipswich Guides turn Pellet Detectives

We recently welcomed a group from 7th Ipswich Guides for a visit to the Owl Sanctuary.

The day started with a guided walk led by our Education Officer Susan, who showed them some of our beautiful birds and told the group about some of the conservation stories behind the species in the wild. This included a look in our Raptor Hospital, meeting our rescued Jackdaw chicks and finding out about Barn Owls, Vultures and Golden Eagles. The group then enjoyed our Meerkat feed and talk before taking their seats for our morning Flying Display.

Auckland incoming during a Flying Display. Photo by Rock N Ryder Photography

After lunch the group undertook an important task, becoming Pellet Detectives. As regular readers will know already, we are fortunate to have a number of hack release pens located locally to provide our Raptor Hospital patients with a chance to learn some essential life skills and gain fitness and confidence in a “wild” environment before they are actually released. These hack pens are especially useful for the many young birds we take in every breeding season.

A young Tawny Owlet in the hack pen

On a recent visit to a hack pen, Senior Falconer and Head of Hospital Jess collected some pellets from the ground beneath the perches. We were all curious to find out whether the young Tawny Owls who had been residing in this pen had been able to catch any of their own food, as the pens are designed to be attractive for rodents to encourage our birds to display natural hunting instincts.

Susan explained this to the Guides and tasked them to identify what species these owls had been eating. Over the course of an hour, the group diligently pulled the pellets apart, collecting bones for identification. The hack pens are provisioned with domestic House Mouse for the duration of the birds stay, so we were specifically looking for anything different.

The easiest way to identify different rodents from their bones is to find the lower jaw bone. This bone has a distinctive shape which is different between the species, so using the Field Studies Council Guide to Owl Pellets, the group scrutinised all the jaw bones they had found. As expected, the majority of the bones belonged to House Mouse, however, we were thrilled to also discover a Wood Mouse and some Beetle carapaces (wing cases), proving that these birds have been hunting and catching their own food!

“I can’t wait to take the bones to school and show my teacher, she loves science and I think she will love this as much as I do.”

After a quick tidy up and break, the group had an informative Raptor Rescue session, where Susan explained what they should do if they ever find an injured bird of prey. They then watched the afternoon Flying Display before congregating to choose their favourite photos of the day.

Susan explaining what to do if you find an injured bird of prey.

Susan says “It’s so important for us to engage with the next generation, as they are the conservationists of the future. The girls did a fantastic job dissecting the pellets and were able to follow the instructions to identify everything they found. Even those who were a bit hesitant at the start wanted to take their findings home with them, knowing that what they had found directly contributed towards our rescue efforts.”

Guide Leader Debbie said, ”I just wanted to say how amazing the day was. On the Tuesday evening {after the visit} listening to the group all chatting about the day while they were making their photo scrapbooks was brilliant. Then having their grown up’s telling me all the information they had shared when they got home was great too.
You were amazing, the wealth of knowledge you were able to impart at just the right level for them was fab.
We loved it so much that we returned the following weekend as a family to celebrate a birthday and were then able to tell my hubby and other daughter everything we’d learned.”


Don't DIY, GET HELP!

This year, our Raptor Hospital has been incredibly busy, caring for a variety of species of raptors with all sorts of ailments. Whilst we are prepared and equipped to look after Owls, Buzzards, Kestrels, Hawks and Kites, time is always critical, and unfortunately, this year we’ve had to deal with an increasing number of cases which have not been looked after correctly from the outset.

We understand that everyone wants to help wildlife in trouble, however, this is not always in the animal/bird's best interest as all require experienced specialist care for a release to be successful. Often, we become a last resort when the care provided has not worked, or the bird has gone downhill to the point it requires critical support to survive. 

This year has seen a few specific cases where birds have been kept for prolonged periods in unsuitable environments which has either led to the bird being unfit for release or, worst case scenario, euthanized due to untreated or unrecognized injuries. This has led to a prolonged period in captivity which would have otherwise been unnecessary, thus leading to increased stress and loss of core fitness in extreme instances. Bird bones can heal incredibly quickly, and, if an injury goes untreated it can prolong the suffering of a bird that could otherwise be saved, or, cause massive deformities which will make the bird unable to survive in the wild without support. 

We have also seen patients brought in to us who have been fed unsuitable diets whilst in care. Birds of prey require whole foods to have a healthy and balanced diet. This means that feeding them processed pet food, even if it is meaty, will cause complications, especially in younger birds that require sufficient bone content in their diet to grow their own bones.
For birds that are starving, a sudden intake of food may overwhelm their digestive system and hasten their demise. When these birds are brought in to us, we use a special solution to give them an energy boost to hopefully enable them to start feeding. This is often administered via a crop tube, which requires skilful practice to ensure that it is placed into the stomach and not the lungs. Syringing liquid into the mouth could result in the bird drowning as the openings for the stomach and lungs are very close.
Overfeeding can also promote obesity which is just as critical to their fitness as an injury is. Birds carrying too much weight can suffer a multitude of long term health problems and can hinder a successful release. 


IF YOU FIND A BIRD OF PREY THAT REQUIRES HELP, PLEASE CALL US FOR ADVICE!

We are non-judgemental and will always do our best to support and educate wildlife rescues on the correct protocols and procedures for wild birds of prey. However, if you suspect that a bird’s welfare has been compromised, please contact us so we can endeavour to prevent further suffering.

And lastly, wild birds and animals should never be kept as pets or handled regularly. Any bird or animal that is taken from the wild must be given to a licensed specialist in wildlife rehabilitation for release, or a veterinarian for injury assessment. These animals do not want to be around us, and many show a stress response that can be mistaken for tameness. Please don't kill with kindness!

REMEMBER:

DO NOT give food or water
KEEP the injured bird in a suitable box in a quiet area
CALL US for advice - 03456 807 897





Silver linings

Last week, Jess and Susan were joined by Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO to do another check of some of our Barn Owl nest boxes.

We travelled up to the Waveney Valley where were knew of two nests which should have contained ringable chicks. The first was in a field with cows, so we had to wait for the farmer to escort us to the box. He said he’d popped round the night before and was concerned that he couldn’t hear any activity. Hugh placed the ladder against the tree, and out of the box flew a Stock Dove. Considering there should have been a large Barn Owl chick in the box, this didn’t bode well. When Hugh opened the box, he found 2 Stock Dove eggs in one corner, and the remains of a Barn Owl chick in the opposite. The chick had been dead for about a week, given the state of decomposition, but there was no evidence of predation. We suspect that it was a single parent who was struggling to find enough food to feed themselves plus the growing chick.

The next box we had previously checked a few weeks ago and found 4 eggs. This nest is being closely monitored using cameras and over the past few weeks we’ve had regular updates on the activity. In the past week or so, activity seemed to have tailed off, which was concerning as we expected the chicks to have hatched and be demanding food. Again, when Hugh positioned the ladder a Stock Dove flew out. In the box, Hugh found 3 of the Owl eggs in one corner and 2 Stock Dove eggs in another. This suggests that the eggs were not fertile. We know from the cameras that the female is wearing a ring and that she hatched on a nearby farm last year, so it could be that she needs a little more experience. If the weather holds, she may attempt to breed later in the summer. However, given the difficulties we’ve seen in our Raptor Hospital this year, concerning young birds in starving conditions, we don’t think there is much food available for them.

The team then headed south, checking boxes along the way. One of these contained a large Stock Dove chick, which gave Jess some experience ringing a non-raptor species.

Jess ringing a young Stock Dove - her first non-raptor.

Kestrel pellets and remains of breakfast

Another box looked very promising with several small pellets and a couple of dead juvenile voles on the ground beneath it. As we got the ladder into position, a female Kestrel flew from a neighbouring tree and flew across the field toward some telegraph poles opposite. With Hugh up the ladder, Jess spotted 3 young Kestrels on the telegraph posts, and Hugh confirmed that the box had been recently vacated. We suspect that the Kestrels fledged a short while ago but are still using the box to roost in.

Later in the afternoon, we’d made our way back down to near SOS to check one last box. This box is not in what we would consider an ideal location, as it is sandwiched between the main London- Norwich trainline and the busy A14 dual carriageway. Upon approach, we saw a Kestrel fly out of the tree, and a number of Jackdaws were also sitting in the upper branches. Given our track record for the day, we were feeling a little pessimistic. Jess approached the box with a net and placed it over the entrance, just in case anyone was home. Before Hugh and Susan had got the ladder in place, out flew a Barn Owl, which Jess expertly captured. Unfortunately, the net wasn’t big enough to catch the second Barn Owl which flew out a few seconds later! The Owl was carefully extracted from the net and placed into a bag while Hugh checked the box, which was empty. Jess had already seen that the bird was ringed, but as she read the number, we all looked at each-other - that sounded familiar! Hugh checked through his book where he keeps all ringing data before submitting, and discovered that this bird was one of a couple of Barn Owls that we had in our Raptor Hospital last year, as chicks. They had been ringed before moving to a hack pen locally.

Once we had all stopped grinning with excitement, Jess continued to take biometric measurements on the Owl, including a weight, wing length. She also had a brood patch, which tells us that she has definitely attempted to breed this year, and was starting to moult her feathers! We assume that the other Owl was her mate, who flew off into some large Willow trees near the river. After the female was returned to the box, we went on an exploratory hike to see if we could locate a couple of “missing” boxes on the other side of the river. We found one which had a large squirrel drey inside, but the other couldn’t be found. So wherever she was nesting must be in a natural hole!

This was a massive boost for the team after a disappointing start to the day. It confirms that the work we do in the Raptor Hospital and our Hack Pens works to support young birds after release. This female had flown about 5 miles from her release site, which is about average for Barn Owl dispersal, but had made it across the A14, which is an incredibly dangerous barrier for wildlife, and the cause of many of our Hospital intakes.

Through ringing our Raptor Hospital patients before release, we hope to find more Owls and Kestrels breeding locally in nest boxes monitored by ourselves, or other groups in the future!

Young Kestrels out to Hack

The three young Kestrels who have been with us for a while have now been moved to a hack pen.

Two of these Kestrels were found when they were only a few days old, and required hand rearing by our team. Despite our best efforts to avoid imprinting them, they became very used to being around people because of the 24/7 care they needed in their first week with us. As soon as we could, we moved them to one of our Hospital aviaries and adopted a hands off approach, dropping food into the aviary via a hatch and generally avoiding any further contact with them. However, they continued to call for food constantly when they heard certain members of the team in the area.

The two Kestrel chicks were found in the same nest as two Jackdaw chicks!

After a couple of days in this aviary, they were joined by a third young Kestrel, who was found starving. This bird was truly wild, and had the typical feisty Kestrel behaviour we expect, despite it’s young age. We hope that this will encourage the other two to be more wary of people.

Spot the one that wasn’t hand-reared!

All three were recently ringed and have now been moved to a remote location where they can adjust to life without people. They have been placed in a hack pen, which is a temporary aviary designed to give birds that have been with us for a period of time a chance to experience the sights and sounds of the area that they will be released into.

On the move

Senior Falconer Jess, who also runs our Raptor Hospital said “When we get youngsters in that need constant care for the first few days, it can be hard not to get attached. I must confess to having a tear in my eye as they were taken to the hack site, but now they have a chance to be wild and free thanks to the efforts of the whole team here at SOS.”

This particular hack pen has been placed in an area with a good layer of meadow grass, and when Jess moved some of the cut grass out of the way, about 20 rodents ran out, so this is really encouraging for these youngsters to hone their hunting skills before they are released. Even though we will continue to provision this hack pen with mice, we have installed trail cameras so we can remotely monitor the birds activity and hopefully see them catching their own dinner.

Not too impressed with the new accommodation!

We expect these birds to stay in the hack pen for a couple of weeks, but Jess had a bittersweet moment on her most recent visit to drop off food for them, when none of the birds showed any interest in her.

Exciting bird in our Hospital

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are always prepared to assist with any bird of prey that needs our help. We recently received a call from another rescue in Cambridgeshire about a bird that they had taken in that needed specialist help.

This Marsh Harrier was brought in to us after it was found next to a road near Wicken Fen. Marsh Harriers, as the name suggests, are typically found in wetlands, so it was a very unusual bird to find on a road. The bird had a limp wing, suggesting that she had been clipped by a vehicle.

Upon arrival with us, Jess couldn’t feel any obvious breaks, but just to be sure, we arranged for an X-ray at our local vets. This confirmed that there was no break, so we’re relieved that she just has soft tissue damage.

She has been placed in our indoor aviary for close observation and whilst not able to fully fly around just yet, she is managing to get onto the lower perches so we are keeping everything crossed that she continues to improve.

Busy ringing session

Earlier this week, we invited Dr Hugh Hanmer to ring some of our Hospital patients before they were released.

We hope that by ringing as many of our patients as possible before they are released, we can get a better idea that our efforts work. Each bird is fitted with a ring which is inscribed with an individual alpha-numeric code. This means that if this bird is found again in the future, we can find out where it’s moved to and how it was doing after release. We always hope that one day we will find one of our released Raptor Hospital patients breeding in a nest box. We also take biometric measurements to add to the national database, held by the British Trust for Ornithology.

Here are the stories about the most recent birds to be ringed and what the ringing process told us about them.

Cloud Barn Owls

These two very young Barn Owls were brought to us after their nest box collapsed in bad weather. The mother flew off so we stepped in to rear them. Thankfully, they were uninjured and were very lucky to have been found and brought to us, as they would not have survived by themselves.

These two were too young to sex, but as they’ll be with us for a little while longer, we may check them again before they are moved to a hack pen.

Fledging Barn Owls

These two older Barn Owlets were being monitored by a bird ringer, when he found three chicks on the ground outside the box. One of the chicks flew off, but these two were very weak so they were brought to us for assessment. They were both very thin but after 24 hours and some good food, they both perked right up! Being a bit older, we were able to sex them, with the larger bird identified as a female from the spots on her breast feathers, and the smaller one a male, as he was spotless.

These two will be returned to near where they were found over the next week or so, and will go into a hack pen so we can assess their hunting ability before release.

Big Buzzard

This large Buzzard was brought in with a tear on her wing, we suspect from an altercation with another bird. She was treated with pain relief and the wound has healed nicely. When we caught her up for ringing, she put up quite a fight, suggesting that she had a bit of life experience. By looking at the feathers in her wings, we were able to age her as a third year bird, as Buzzards only replace a few feathers each year. We also weighed and measured her wing, which put her at the top end of the scale for biometric measurements.

She will be released soon near where she was found.

Young Buzzard

This recently fledged Buzzard was found grounded. During the initial assessment, the team found that he had a bacterial infection which was treated with antibiotics. Now that he has made a full recovery, he was ready to be ringed. Based on his size, we are confident that he is a male, and typical of young Buzzards, when approached, he just freezes and doesn’t really put up much of a fight (unlike the older female). He has been moved to an outdoor aviary to build up some fitness before going to a hack pen.

Little Owls

We’ve had a very busy season of Little Owlets, and a new one arrived just before Hugh got to us. This Owlet was found……………(road/ stables???)

It was ringed alongside another which has been with us for a short time having been found weak.

Both these Little Owlets have been added to the remaining group, and will likely go out all together to a hack site soon.

Kestrels

We’ve had two young Kestrels in recently. The first one is a female who came in unable to fly. She was very overweight for her size, and has been on a strict diet since arriving. Her fitness is improving as we encourage her to fly in the aviary to find her food.

She was ringed alongside a young male, identified by his blue-grey tail covets that are growing through. He was found very weak but has now improved and it’s likely that these two might be released together from a hack pen when they are ready.


Singleton Barn Owl

We also took the opportunity to visit a local Barn Owl box that was checked a few weeks ago with a single very young Barn Owl chick. This box was installed two years ago by local farmer Sam Broughton, who manages his land with wildlife in mind. The box was paid for by a kind donation from one of our long-standing volunteers Linda, so we were very pleased to find it occupied.

On our most recent check, the single chick was alone in the box, which is perfectly normal, as the parents often opt for a quieter life and as soon as the chicks start becoming a bit too demanding for food, the parents will find an alternative roost nearby to spend the daytime. This chick was a decent size and Jess was able to ring it, under the supervision of Hugh who holds the necessary licences to monitor and disturb this protected species. She also had an audience, as Sam had his young family come out to watch, as it’s not every day you get to see a young Barn Owl being ringed! The Owlet was quickly returned to the box and will likely stay there for at least another 3-4 weeks before venturing out to hunt in the field margins. A true farmers friend!