Intelligence (w then c then w again)

Lifes second chance & I think worth posting

Here is another side of my photography work, this is capturing the results & antics of rehabilitation work, one of the main reasons to why I took up photography a few years back.

This Barn Owl came in after being hit by a vehicle, we repaired its broken wing & safely released it sometime after into a new environment away from major roads.

This image was taken during its re-release by means of using a hack aviary tucked deep in the countryside. What you see here is the Barn Owl returning back to its release aviary 2 days after it was released. The reason for its return was simply because it knew there was a back up of food located in the aviary for which we keep putting there for a 2 week period, everyday.. The food is deep in the aviary to stop crows/magpies pinching it. The Owl knows it is there plus it knows that the release hatch will be left open, this shows how intelligent these birds really are & they soon learn about a set feed pattern that has been set up for them. The food is taken out the aviary by the Owl & taken to a place it would be roosting; the Owl never stays in the aviary to eat it, it flies in locates the food & flies back again. The food we provide is day old chicks & sometimes mice, all dead of course.

This Owl stopped returning after one week, did the Owl survive, who knows? Job Done!


I thought it would be good to share this with the forum, not for praise but more so as a guidance on how a wild casualty can be re-released gently back into a new environment. No harm in a bit of education/awareness & using the camera to gain a visible record.

Thanks for looking

Vince

Hi Vince,

A very nice insight into the very good work you and your colleagues do , thanks for sharing.


Andy...

Get the food & get the hell out of there

Vince,

Very interesting. Keep up the great work, and keep the photos coming as well

Rob

Hi Vince,

Well done Great to see (him??) flying free once again. The work your centre does is invaluable to your local Barn Owl population, keep up the good work Vince and I wish you all the best.

Regards

Rob

I always think of Owls as flying cats, I think all preditors have to be brainy to catch food and survive and so all veggies are thick . Sorry veggies.
Interesting info, enjoyed reading it.

Tim

We even hid it's back up food within a nest box that was attached to the outside of another hack aviary close by, this clever Barn Owl found that too

A Nest box training exercise

This is the last image taken & the last time the Owl was seen. Over time the visits back to the aviary became less which told me that natural food was being caught.

Thanks for veiwing & commenting

Hi Vincent,

Very interesting post! Really enjoyable story and nice set of images!

Excellent work Vincent. I'd really love to see more of these in our area. I've only ever seen the one and that I'm afraid was a road casualty.

Yeah nice one Vince. Good to see and enjoyed the read

Interesting and informative post. Well done, Vince