Dick Turpin the young Burrowing Owl, investigating a piece of pipe

I’ll start this month by updating you about some of our baby Park birds still in our care, but first I’ll bring you the latest report on Mace the Red–backed Hawk. Mace has been with us since early July with quite a severe foot infection. She has been on medication and regular veterinary examinations and attention. I am pleased to be able to report that recovery has gone well and she has now been moved to an outside aviary to help her return to full fitness.

Snowy Owl Sweeny Todd	Yellow-billed Kite chick in a basket

Now to our babies. The Snowy Owl (below) and the Burrowing Owl (left) are both growing fast and becoming really interesting characters. The Snowy, now named Sweeny Todd, spends some of his day wandering around the hospital investigating any open cupboard or drawer. The Burrowing Owl, named Dick Turpin, is about to start to learn that food can be obtained from inside a tube not just a dish. These birds will remain at the Trust when fully grown.

The older Yellow-billed Kite juveniles born at the end of May have grown most of their first adult feathers and will also start their training soon as they will also be staying with us at the Trust. The two younger kites born on the 6th July are growing well and are very noisy.

Nineteen wild birds have been brought to us during the month for care and treatment.

These included :-

• Wild Sparrowhawk

  Two Sparrowhawks, one of them with a fractured left wing, which had to be euthanased. The other one was in a poor condition when it arrived but is recovering well, and is about to be moved to an outside aviary to continue its recovery.
• We cared for six Kestrels. One was a chick which had fallen out of its nest and was a bit thin. It fed well and was released when fit. Two came in as a result of hitting vehicles. A further one was very thin, another had a left leg fractured and the last one had an open wing fracture. Unfortunately none of these was viable for re-release.
• We received two Little Owls. One had caught its wing in some barbed wire which had pulled the skin and feather off it. The other was found in a mole trap. It had no real physical injuries but was suffering severe shock when it arrived with us. It did not improve and our vet does not expect it to recover enough to be releasable.
• We have seen a mixture of injuries on the Buzzards brought in. These have included a fractured left leg that was pinned. This bird came to us from Wings and Talons near Chippenham. One had an old head injury and a badly swollen knee joint. We have seen a probable road traffic accident, serious fly strike and maggot infestation, a spinal injury causing the bird to be very wobbly on its feet and one with no obvious injury but was very thin. After a few good meals it was well enough to be released back into the wild. Four of the seven birds were in too bad a condition for treatment.
• Finally two Tawny Owls came our way. One had a severely overgrown beak which meant that it could not feed. This was treated and the bird started to enjoy eating again. This problem is usually caused by to much soft food. The other one was involved in a minor vehicle accident causing slight concussion. Both birds fully recovered and have been released back into the wild.