Today we got a message to go slightly out of the area I would normal go out for, but it was for a known species. A barn owl. A species I have never picked up for HART and frankly, who doesn’t love a bird of prey?!

So of my wife and I went to collect one of the most beautiful bird I have ever had the honours of picking up with my own 2 hands (picture below).

It had been found by a woman whilst out driving in the middle of the room unable to fly, taken home and kept in a dark room (perfect for a crepuscular species during the day).

Very weak we placed the owl in the carry case and covered it for the drive. Shortly after putting the jumper over the carrier we heard some cute little chirps from him, which was reassuring given the weakness of the animal. It was also a relief as barn owls are screech owls, and their call isn’t very cute at all, especially whilst driving!

Once at HART one of the staff took it off me and triaged and soon came back with my carrier and a brief, that although having quite a high obvious parasitic load, which might account for the weakness, the owl looked in pretty good shape and the prognosis was a positive “hopeful”.

Once again I am bowled over by the work and their dedication the animal carers give to the animals, with an enclosure of residents looking like they might be nearly ready to head off to Africa for the winter.

Apologies for the snaps of photos, these were taken through a window whilst waiting for the carrier to get back.