September update.
I'll start with the sad news. After much consideration I very sadly had the tawny from my previous post put to sleep. He'd been with me four weeks and while he'd improved so much initially, he plateaued and there were so many things he wasn't able to do, making him non-releaseable.
How long we give something is a personal thing I suppose. But I try to balance the time in captivity, any stress the bird shows, with prognosis.
The good news.
The poorly barn owl (Bailey) who came in from Beltempo Vets, continued to improve and gain weight. His black, swollen eye healed and so I decided to try him in with Soda. Bailey is an older owl roughly 1 - 2 years old.
I moved both owls to a temporary enclosure and they got on straight away. If you watch this video you will see the young owl Soda, facinated with Bailey preening. He became Bailey's shadow.
I then moved both back into the bigger aviary, where they continued to gain weight, both self-feeding. Bailey on the right, Soda on the left.
On the morning of the 3rd October ringer Paul Roper kindly came out and checked each owl, rung them and said they were ready to go. Thanks for coming out Paul. I decided to let both owls go from mine as the time Bailey had been away from his area, would ideally mean a soft release pen was used for his release. This wasn't possible.
The owls were shut in early afternoon and Phil and I removed the roof from the enclosure. Bailey was the first one to leave and did so incredibly quickly. Soda followed a short time after and both ended up sitting on the post and rail fence in the paddock next to our house.
Soda flew off first and Bailey really took his time, but eventually flew in the same direction.
The idea of soft release is the birds get used to being fed in the same place and if needed can return for food and shelter. A camera is still on the enclosure but neither owl has come back.
Our tawny "Claude" is however a frequent visitor still! About time you went and got a job again Claude, you free loader! haha.
Thank you to everyone involved in the rescue/release of Bailey and Soda.
Love these updates Jo.
So sad about the tawney but the barn owls….😊