Friday 31 August 2012

Up Before The Beak

Today we went to see a certain Master Oliver Beak at the Rutland Owl & Falconry Centre.  Regular readers of my Blog will remember that Ollie, the Little Owl, has been at the Centre for 6 weeks after I found him sitting in the road near just outside my village, very weak and underweight.  

He was not able to grasp properly with one of his talons and that was most likely why he was in such a weakened state when I came upon him, because he couldn't catch his prey with a non-functioning foot. The staff were not sure if he would ever be fit, and wild enough, to be set free.  Owls can imprint themselves on to humans very quickly, especially when young, which Ollie was.  However he has been growing in strength since with the expert care he's been receiving, and has recovered full use of his poorly talon.

I was hoping to get some photos of him today, but, wouldn't you know it, two days ago, he was starting to go crazy in his enclosure, and the decision was made (largely by himself) to release him, so we missed him!  The photo above is not of Ollie, but another of the tame Little Owls at the Centre.  

So, great news of our little fella, and he can still be seen around having not gone far yet, despite his freedom.  He had become a firm favourite with the visitors and staff alike, and he had been affectionately named Tiny Tim.  A happy end to the story!

4 comments:

  1. Indeed a great story and a happy ending for Tiny Tim (Ollie). I am sure you must feel a great sense of happiness for the life you have helped to give him. Regards

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    1. I did Trevor - the head keeper said I should be proud of myself, but all I did was scoop him up - just in the right place at the right time! They did all the hard work of getting him back to full health, but I did feel a great sense of satisfaction.

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  2. Great ending to the story Peter.

    Must have been Kamikaze season for young animals/birds - we rescued a juvenile Green Woodpecker from the road a few weeks back (photos somewhere on my Blog) but don't know the outcome. His parents were constantly calling from the trees above so hopefully they sorted him out.

    Did the same thing for a hedgehog in the road in broad daylight - it had 'frozen' as they do and luckily cars had all stopped for it but I decided to pick it up and take it to the grass verge just in case some idiot driver got impatient and tried to overtake the stationary cars ...

    I hope Ollie (Tiny Tim) has a very long and happy life now

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    1. Well done Sue! I should imagine the Yaffle would have attended to their youngster. Let's hope the hedgehog made it okay too.

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