Miraculous recovery from a Sparrowhawk

When we receive a call about a Sparrowhawk in need of help, usually it’s as a result of a window collision. These birds are now a common sight pursuing their prey in gardens, and in the excitement of the chase, they sometimes don’t see clear glass windows.

We were therefore surprised to be asked to help a Sparrowhawk which had been hit by a car. This unfortunate bird not only hit the car but was also rolled along the tarmac. When she first arrived, she was in a very sorry state, with a massive head trauma causing swelling around her eye, bruising to her legs and feet and damage to her tail.

The team immediately gave her pain relief and placed her in our ICU room for monitoring. The main concern was her head, and we were worried that she might have suffered damage to her eye. However, after just a couple of days in our care, the swelling disappeared and her eye looked good as new! Jess used an opthalmoscope to check for any damage and none was detected, which was great news!

Sparrowhawk’s generally don’t do well in captivity, so we are keen to have her released as soon as possible. Although she has some damaged tail feathers, we are confident that she will adapt until they regrow. There is a method called imping, whereby falconers can use complete feathers moulted from captive birds, or collected from deceased birds, to fill the gaps in birds that need to be released. This has been done successfully in the past, but unfortunately we don’t have any suitable feathers available at this time to perform this procedure.

Prior to her immiment release, we invited Dr Hugh Hanmer to supervise Jess in ringing this feisty patient. This painless process involves attaching a metal ring to the birds leg (similar to us wearing a bracelet), with a unique alpha-numeric code. Should this bird then be found again, we will get a report to say where she’s got to, and the finder will know that she was released following a period in our Raptor Hospital.

Barn Owl Comeback?

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed a lack of Barn Owls being admitted to our Raptor Hospital in recent years. Since 2020, we have have relatively few Barn Owls brought to us, and last year they were noticeably absent for most of the year.

We don’t know the reasons behind this, as our own nest box monitoring locally was curtailed during this period due to Covid and volunteer availability. However, the first few months of 2023 has already seen more Barn Owls admitted than the whole of 2022, so hopefully whatever population blip the local Owls were experiencing is now over.

Whilst we obviously don’t want any birds to need our help, it is a good indication on what the local population is doing, with increasing numbers of Buzzards being admitted in recent years corresponding to increased sightings across the area.

Here are the Barn Owl cases we’ve had so far this year!

Pin-Wing

This Barn Owl was successfully operated on to fix the broken wing.

This Owl was found with a broken wing, which we were able to successfully operate on thanks to Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown. After a few weeks in recovery, we are very pleased with how the wing has healed and are keeping everything crossed that this bird will be returned to her home territory soon.
You can read more about her case here.

Half Tail

This Barn Owl is missing half his tail, which will need to regrow before he can be released.

This Owl was found roadside after a potential RTA. He was a bit battered and bruised and is missing half his tail, but is otherwise eating and moving around fine. Missing such a significant part of his tail is an issue though. The feathers have broken off right near the follicle so will need to naturally moult out before any new feathers arrive. It's not hindering his flight too much, but missing too much of the tail can make hunting very difficult. As such, this Owl will be staying with us until he has replaced his missing tail feathers, and will almost certainly be released from one of our Hack pens.

Tick Face

This Barn Owl was covered in parasites but also had injuries suggesting a tussle with another animal

This little barn owl came in covered in parasites and ticks. He had also sadly been grabbed by another animal or bird as was showing wounds around the face and neck. We are happy to say he is also feeding well and has not shown any further signs of infection or lasting issues from the injuries. When he arrived, he was wearing a BTO ring, which we have logged and will share the details in a future blog.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, some birds are too badly injured for us to save. We received a Barn Owl from a member of the public who thought it was dead when first found, face down in a field. Upon careful examination in our Raptor Hospital, our team discovered that the bird was suffering from severe bruising to the body, possibly the result of being clipped by a vehicle. There were no other signs of injury, so the bird was given pain relief and offered food, while being kept warm in our ICU. After a few days, we wanted to assess his ability to get around, so he was put into one of our small aviaries for monitoring. Despite seeming to be doing ok, a couple of days later the team found that he had died over night in the nest box provided. This was very upsetting to the team who had cared for him, but it appears that the initial impact had caused internal injuries which were undetectable. At least we can take comfort in the knowledge that his last few days were warm, pain free and well fed.
You can read more about his case here.

This Barn Owl came to us alive but had significant bruising to his body and unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.

Location, Location, LOCATION!

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we pride ourselves on being available to help sick, injured or orphaned birds of prey from across Suffolk, and sometimes beyond!

Most of the calls to our emergency helpline come from people who have already got the bird in a safe place, like a box, or are calling for advice having found a bird in a specific location.

However, sometimes we are left messages which can send us on a wild “owl” chase down country roads, delaying the initial recovery of the bird and taking considerable staff or volunteer time as they search for a small bird over a large area.

One such recent case reported a Barn Owl that was seen beside a road near Newmarket. We were given a grid reference location, but when we arrived there was no sign of the bird. We were then informed that the grid reference was for the 1km square, so Jay spent about an hour driving down each lane in that grid square to try locate the owl.

In order to help speed up any rescue attempts of wild birds of prey, we are asking that members of the public use one of two apps available for free on their smart phones to significantly improve this service.

Google Maps is already a popular option for those who travel and have to navigate to unfamiliar locations. But did you know that you can also use it to tell others of specific location by dropping a “pin” on the map. By using the compass icon to navigate to your current location, you can then hold your finger on the screen to “drop a pin”. This will generate a red "pin” on the map, which you can save, then share via email or text with us.

what3words is gaining popularity amongst many delivery and emergency services. The whole world is divided into 3m x3m grid squares, and each 3x3 square is allocated a unique 3 word code. This can be easier to use or remember compared to a 10 figure grid reference to have similar level of accuracy. To find your location, you simply open the App on your phone and hit the compass logo for the dot on the map to find your location. It may take a short time for the accuracy to increase (ideally less than 10m), but the what3words code location will come up at the top, which you can then share with us. By sending us the three word code, we can navigate to that exact location and avoid any delay in helping any birds in need.

For example, we use what3words to direct emergency services to the closest access point to the Sanctuary if we have a medical emergency on site, as our main entrance (pins.shorten.perfume) is a about 100m away from the access gate to the Flying Ground (sparkles.viewer.extent).

Knowing the exact location that birds are picked up from also helps us when they are ready for release so that we can return them back to their territory, if appropriate. It can also be used to aid any police investigations should there be suspicious circumstances involving a bird that’s brought to us, so accuracy is crucial.

Stinky Buzzard gets a sling

Although we don’t always name the birds that are brought into our Raptor Hospital, sometimes a name sticks!

Stinky is a young male Buzzard who was found in a ditch beside a road. He’s named Stinky because, having been in the ditch for an unknown length of time, he had a certain aroma around him which was distinctly unpleasant.

Stinky has been receiving a special solution via a crop tube as he’s reluctant to eat.

Stinky getting fitted for the sling.

Upon arrival, our team discovered that he was missing some flight feathers from his right wing, and there appeared to be issues with his legs. Although there were no obvious signs of concussion, he had clearly suffered an impact to the right side of his body. In our hospital quiet area, it was clear that he was struggling to stand, so the team fashioned a sling to support his body while encouraging blood flow and muscle use in his legs and feet.

Stinky in his sling

UPDATE - After a couple of days, he was able to grip with his feet, but was still listing significantly to the side, so we arranged for an X-ray to rule out any damage to the bones. This came back showing that it was just soft tissue damage. Following a week of gentle physio and periodic time in the sling, the Buzzard shocked us all by perching almost normally! He is still wobbly, which does indicate likely nerve bruising or damage from an impact, however the signs are good he is going to continue to recover.

Jess had to sneak up to get this photo of the bird perching!

Barn Owl Operation a success

A few weeks ago we received a call about a Barn Owl in trouble. She was found tangled in a hedge in a rural location, but no-where near any roads. When she arrived with us, it was apparent that the bird had a broken wing.

Thankfully, our specialist vet Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown was due to visit the next day so he brought all of his equipment to be able to help this poor bird. Without access to x-ray, Elliott decided to operate in order to determine whether the break was suitable for pinning. Thankfully, it was a clean break of the humerus, in exactly the right place to make the chance of recovery pretty good.

Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown cutting the metal “pin” down to size while the Barn Owl is under anaesthetic ready for the operation.

The operation lasted about 2 hours, being a very delicate process of attaching metal rods to the broken bones and using an external bridge to keep these stable while the bones healed. After the Owl came round from the anaesthetic, we were pleased that it seemed quite perky, and was happy to eat any food we put in front of it. Within a week we were optimistic that the healing process was working, as there appeared to be no callous developing around the break and the bird was showing itself to be quite agile, despite the metal bridge sticking out from its wing.

Checking the flexibility of the wing after a period of healing with a pin and bridge still in place

After a couple of weeks, Elliott returned to remove the bridge. The external bridge was keeping the bone from moving while it healed, whilst the internal pin kept the join from separating. Once the bridge was removed another x-ray was taken to assess the positioning once again. One of the major risks of pinning a bone is the alignment of the wing post healing. Any misalignment of the bone could cause major issues with flight ability long term, thus ability to hunt and survive. Likewise, any large callus around or over the site of healing could affect joint mobility, and even weight distribution of the wing load, so it is really important to encourage optimal healing for the owls survival.

X-ray showing the perfect heal to the broken wing, with very little callous formed around the break. The metal pin will be removed after a short period to allow the soft tissue time to recover from the operation to remove the bridge.

The break was midway along the humerus bone, a large bone in the upper wing, and clean enough to be a good candidate for this procedure. It is never assured it will be successful until we can assess the healing pattern post surgery (2-3 weeks) and the patient must remain confined not to cause further injury, but able to move enough so the muscles and joints don't start to seize. Luckily for this Barn Owl, the healing could not have gone better. The bone has knitted straight and the callous around the fracture was so minimal it was hard to see where it initially was. The pin and bridge had done it's job so well the owl was able to fly soon after removal. 

The pin will remain in place for another week or so until soft tissue swelling has receded to a point it can be removed. Until then she is residing in a large aviary to start strengthening those muscles again.

Education Team attend CLOtC Conference

Our Education Officer Susan, Assistant Bethany and mascot Billy Jr. recently travelled to the West Midlands Safari Park to attend the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom Conference.

This was the first in person conference since 2019, and with 280 delegates from across the UK participating in a variety of workshops, seminars and talks, it was a packed day!

Billy Jr getting ready for a busy day of talks, presentations and workshops!

The day started with a welcome and key note speeches from Paul Rose (Explorer), Prof. Mick Waters (former Headteacher, Author and advisor on the curriculum) and Jon Clarke (Shadow Headteacher). Each shared they’re own journeys in Learning Outside the Classroom, highlighting key moments where taking pupils out of the classroom has had a big impact, not only on those pupils but also on staff.
It is all too easy to forget that there are some in this country who have never visited a beach, or climbed a mountain, and these three speakers really inspired everyone in the Treetops Marquee to make positive changes to improve everyone’s accessibility to the outdoors.

After a short break, delegates were then taken to the impressive Safari Academy, where there were a number of different workshops for providers and schools. Susan attended one looking at how we can better support our users learning objectives, which considered the “menu” of options or a more bespoke offering. This session also allowed opportunities for networking and Susan picked up lots of useful hints and tips from the other providers in the room on how to collect feedback (from teachers and pupils), what questions should be asked at the booking stage and how to manage expectations of teachers, pupils and providers staff.

Bethany attended a workshop run by the National Trust about making venues inclusive, not only for visitors but also staff. There was a big emphasis on trying to make sure workplaces and venues offer appropriate adjustments before people ask for them. This was followed by a group discussion about the benefits of diversity and how it can improve the overall atmosphere of a centre. Having multiple perspectives and cultures represented in a place helps create a more welcoming environment and allows others to feel more committed to your centre. Having these inclusive measures already in place reduces any anxieties people may already have about visiting. It was highlighted how important it can be to ensure any difficulties someone may encounter have already been considered and adjustments put into place before they step through the door, which Bethany thought was very relevant to us, as many of our visitors come to reflect and improve their mental health.

Susan then attended another workshop which featured teachers from several schools from around the UK explaining what they are looking for from an educational visit. Accessibility for pupils who have additional needs, particularly those who are neurodivergent, was a key point which was raised multiple times through out the day, and again, Susan picked up lots of notes on how we can improve on this to make Suffolk Owl Sanctuary a safer and more welcoming place for groups to visit.

Whilst Susan was in the classroom with teachers, Bethany was outside on a Safari Guided Tour with one of the West Midlands Safari Guides.

During the lunch break, they had a brief opportunity to explore some of the indoor houses on the foot safari area of the Park. Susan visited the Twilight Zone, featuring bats, invertebrates and fish, as well as some delightful Owl-faced Monkeys, and stopped off to see the Penguins on her way back while Bethany visited the Reptile House.

After lunch, there was a presentation of awards for schools who had achieved LOtC Mark Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, before the last workshops of the day. Susan opted for the Safari Tour, and took Billy Jr with her to “meet” some of the animals that call West Midlands Safari Park home. The Guide drove them through all the reserves, pausing to chat about the Buffalo, Rhinos, Cheetahs, Lions, African Hunting Dogs, Elephants and Giraffe. Some of the herbivores on the tour were very keen to see the tour bus, as they know there is food, so Billy Jr had a close encounter when one of the Giraffe stuck it’s head through the window!

While Susan and Billy Jr were exploring outside, Bethany attended a workshop by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust all about wellbeing. It started off outside and got them participating in a few of their activities which help children connect better with nature. A small 5 minute activity such as standing with your eyes closed and listening to what noises are going on around you, selecting which noise is the most prominent and favourite then thinking about why it had an impact on you.  They explained that very simple low effort tasks with no to very little rules were the most beneficial and really helped to engage childrens interest to explore nature further. Bethany found this session the most engaging as it isn’t often we get the opportunity to participate in the activities we run ourselves and it gave her a better understanding of how important small interactions with nature can be for some who have never experienced any or even have some anxiety around nature. 

Upon their return to the Treetops Marquee, there was a networking event with several themes or topics for discussion. It was at this point that Susan and Bethany made contact with a few other providers from East Anglia, and their conversations were continued at the end of the conference. The conference closed with a poetry reading by Roy McFarlane.

Overall, it was an inspirational event, and both Susan and Bethany returned with lots of ideas on how to improve our educational offering. Some of these will be rolled out over the coming months and should offer changes for schools, groups and home educating families, as well as general visitors.

ABWAK Conference

Two weeks ago, Izzy, our trainee falconer, attended the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers (ABWAK) 2023 symposium. This is where keepers from all over the UK meet up to discuss the latest research and projects being carried out in zoos and aquaria. Here’s how she got on…

On the 4th and 5th of March, I headed to Yorkshire Wildlife Park to attend the ABWAK 2023 symposium. It was a wonderful weekend, full of research talks, workshops, networking opportunities, and of course, lots of lovely animals! Yorkshire Wildlife Park and ABWAK very kindly offered free entry to the zoo on the day prior to the symposium, so I did have a nice look around, and enjoyed seeing England’s only polar bears at Project Polar.

Izzy enjoyed visiting England’s only polar bears, at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The park doesn’t own many birds, but is known for it’s collection of carnivores.

On the first day of the symposium, I attended the sealion training workshop – granted, I do not work with sealions! However, animal training is a core part of my role here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, so it was really exciting learning about other zoo’s training techniques and cooperative care. Cooperative care is the training of animals by which they willingly partake in their own health checks, wellbeing, and care; this prevents the need of restraint for basic health checks or minor medical procedures. This is something we already do here at SOS, but it is always useful to expand your knowledge in this ever-growing field of animal care and welfare. The keepers were so friendly and knowledgeable, so it was fantastic sharing our training ideas, thoughts, and experiences.

The sealion training workshop was an excellent way to see cooperative care health check training in action.

I loved listening to the talk about the training and enrichment of ex-pet parrots. Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, a small handful of our birds have come from challenging circumstances or may have learned some undesirable behaviours at previous settings; therefore, the talk furthered my knowledge of enrichment devices and training tools I may bring into effect to help with some of these behaviours in our own birds.

The symposium agenda was packed full of interesting upcoming research and project talks. It was really encouraging to see talks about conservation projects locally and abroad, but I did notice some gaps surrounding native species; it has inspired me to hopefully submit my own presentation, as I would love to talk about the conservation and rehabilitation work we do here at SOS at next year’s symposium.

Izzy at the ABWAK symposium, hosted by Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

I did submit some posters about the work we do at SOS to the ABWAK Poster Competition; this is to pass on useful knowledge or techniques to other keepers. Whilst my poster didn’t place (no prize money for me!) I’m incredibly proud of the work I produced, and upon speaking to other delegates from bird-related settings, they were very impressed with the management techniques and high-quality welfare of our birds – mission accomplished!

It was wonderful meeting so many like-minded individuals; I have hopefully made some new connections which may result in some future collaborations with Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, so watch this space!

Overall, it was an incredible weekend.

The ABWAK symposium – it was a beautiful setup! Izzy had never attended a conference with a disco glitterball before!

Subtle signs of injury

All birds of prey are experts in hiding illnesses and injury as a survival tactic to be unnoticed by other predators and animals – which can make it quite tricky to discern the cause of an issue when a bird is brought into the hospital.  

This Barn Owl was found face down in a field by a concerned landowner, thinking it was deceased. It was gently moved until it was noticed a foot was still moving. It was then wrapped up in a dry towel and brought into the warm where it was then transferred to us.

Knowing the condition it was found in, we were expecting to either see a bad injury or severe emaciation or disease to cause this amount of visible exhaustion, which is sadly a very common sight in Barn Owls. Surprised to say on initial inspection there were no obvious signs of trauma or disease. The body was well muscled, and aside from looking a bit bedraggled, looked in good health!

It was only on closer inspection we noticed a very small area that could point to an area of injury. Can you see it??

It looks small, but in the parted feathers, a slight pink tinge gave away an area of trauma that caused a small bleed – otherwise unnoticed under all the feathers!

As the feathers were parted further it was evident this Barn Owl had suffered an impact due to the level of bruising there was around the chest and body. Bruising appears as bright green on birds, due to the underlying yellow colour of the skin, and heavy bruising appears almost black!

 Without close inspection this clear indication of trauma could have been missed very easily – now it was evident this Barn Owl likely suffered a nasty car clip whilst in flight, it can be treated with the appropriate care for recovery.

Needless to say he was very lucky, albeit having a bit of a headache. 

This lucky Barn Owl will be cared for in our Raptor Hospital to recover from his injuries, before being taken back to where he was found for release.

British Science Week

Last week, Susan, our Education Officer, joined with STEMPOINT East to deliver a fun fact-filled virtual session on Raptor Factors to launch British Science Week!

Over 60 schools from across the Eastern region attended to learn about the beautiful birds that we work with every day. Susan covered what is a Raptor, what they eat, where they live and went into detail about some of the amazing adaptations they have to help them survive.

At the end of the session, Susan stayed online to answer questions, but was inundated by the number and many were left unanswered! However, she was able to copy them over from the chat function and has now been able to answer them all.

“I love the challenge of opening the floor to questions, as I never know what I’m going to get! This session certainly proved that and I’ve actually learnt a bit trying to find the answers to some of the questions I was asked!”

Some of these questions will feature in new fact sheets and resources coming later this year.

As part of the British Science Week campaign, STEMPOINT East have launched a Create-a-Bird Challenge which schools can register for here. Susan has been invited to be part of the judging panel so is looking forward to seeing all the entries next month!

Following this session, we’ve received a number of enquiries from schools who missed this event. We are happy to offer this 30-minute virtual session to schools who feel unable to visit us in person. Please contact us for more information.

All KS2 and the teachers really enjoyed the talk.  Year 6 spent the rest of the morning thought showering about what they had learnt, and rating the presentation out of five stars. The feedback was incredible and lots of five star ratings. Thank you so much for today-you were amazing.

Thank you so much! Really informative and enjoyable! Learnt a lot.

Thank you so much, Susan.  We have learnt such a lot about birds this morning. We are interested in the challenge. 

Thank you so much. We have learnt so much and found it extremely interesting.

Thank you for your time and knowledge.  Really inspired us for our STEM design a bird competition.

We have really enjoyed the session. Susan, you clearly have a huge knowledge of birds and you present your knowledge and passion extremely well. Thank you so much.

Warehouse Rescue

A few weeks ago we received a call from a local printing warehouse. They had discovered a Sparrowhawk inside the warehouse and wanted some advice on how to persuade it to leave.

Mat and Jay attended with some nets and quickly established that the bird had a regular flight route around the warehouse. Thankfully, a gantry storage area enabled them to get closer to the roof space and they made several attempts to catch the bird from this area, all unsuccessfully. The bird was quite fit and not in any danger inside the warehouse, so it was left overnight for a second attempt the next day.

On their way to check on the bird the following morning, Mat picked up some helium balloons. Whilst balloons released into the wild do cause massive impacts on wildlife, we needed some method of pushing the bird gently into the area where we could catch her more easily, as she seemed to have settled in the highest rafters. Upon arrival, the balloons were deployed on long strings and had the desired effect. However, this bird had now spent over 48 hours in the warehouse and knew exactly how to evade capture!

With Plan B having failed, the team reconvened to discuss the options. They called some local bird ringing contacts to see if anybody was available to help with a mist net, a fine net usually held in place by poles and used to catch birds. Unfortunately, nobody with the correct licences was available, so we formulated Plan D, which involved waiting until it got dark and using a high powered lamp to dazzle the bird and hopefully allow us to net her.

That afternoon, Mat and Susan arrived at the warehouse and were hopeful as the bird had now had a few day without food and should have been a bit less full of energy. Unfortunately, this bird was super fit and was quickly flying laps of the warehouse again to demonstrate her ability! Even more worrying was that she had grown accustomed to the balloons which had been left in situ, so much so that we could actually boop her on the tail and beak without much reaction! She seemed to know our plans though, and avoided the gantry area.

We waited until it got dark and she had settled on a slightly lower rafter, before Susan switched the lamp on to dazzle her. Mat was able to sneak in behind her and with one attempt, safely had her caught in the net!

Mat and Susan gave her a quick check before putting her into one of our travel boxes. As it was now around 6.30, Mat took the bird home with him overnight.

The following morning, Jess gave her a thorough check. She had a broken toe, which we suspect was an old injury as there was no swelling or bruising (which might have indicated it had been sustained during her time in the warehouse). She was very fit though, with good muscle coverage and a good weight despite not having fed for a few days. Susan was on hand to ring her (as she’d been in captivity for less than 24 hours) and determined that she was a 2nd year bird, based on her feathers.

Because Sparrowhawks can get very stressed in captivity, we were keen to release her promptly, so Mat made yet another journey to the warehouse, which was actually next to a large country park. Mat placed the box on the ground and opened it. The Sparrowhawk spent a few seconds adjusting to her surroundings, then realising where she was, she quickly took flight! As soon as she was in the air, a number of Woodpigeons took off from the surrounding trees and she gave chase, disappearing into the woodland!

You can see the full rescue mission here.

We would like to thank the team at Five Castles Press for calling us in the first place to help with this rescue. They kept us posted on how she was doing throughout her time in the warehouse and were very helpful at every attempt, even stopping late so we could work in darkness for our final successful attempt.
We’d also like to thank With Love Sparkles, Ipswich, for supplying us with the balloons and to Anglia Fishing & Fieldsports, Stonham Barns, for the loan of the lamp which ultimately led to her capture.

Many hands make light work

Last week we were fortunate to have another group from Suffolk County Council come in to lend us a hand.

The group spent the morning on the wheelbarrows, moving materials to our new enclosure as it nears completion.

As we get ready for our busy season, visitors will have noticed a number of our aviaries have also been refurbished. This is important to ensure that the birds living quarters are in good condition and easily cleaned and maintained in the future. The group from the council helped us to move some of our huge gravel delivery into some of the newly refurbished aviaries. Gravel is an ideal substrate as it is easily cleaned and looks natural.

We’d like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the Council team for their continued support.

First Aid Training completed

Last week we welcomed Ian from Pro Trainings who delivered First Aid training to all of our staff.

Demonstrating how to apply a splint to a broken arm

Having First Aid training will help our staff to support visitors should they need assistance in a medical emergency. Just last year we had a number of visitors who needed help due to pre-existing medical conditions, including a heart attack. The staff who dealt with this at the time were trained at our last First Aid training, but with a number of new members of staff on the team, and certificates only valid for three years, it was time for everyone to have a refresher.

Rob and Pete working on their CPR skills

The training covered the most current guidelines for First Aiders, and went through several practical skills assessments, such as delivering CPR, dressing a wound and choking. We also covered the differences between infant, child and adult care, as our visitors span all ages,

Demonstrating how to help if someone is choking

Whilst everyone had fun over the course of the training, this does have a serious purpose, as one day we might be called upon to help save someone’s life, either at work or out and about in our own time.

Bethany discovering an unconscious Catherine now knows how to place her in the recovery position and get help.

Centre Manager Maz said “I thought Ian was a great instructor. These lessons are invaluable as things change periodically and its good to have a refresher. I really enjoyed the child resuscitation as I’ve never been shown that before so with 13 Grandkids its good to know.”

How do birds cope in the cold?

With the recent cold temperatures, we’re often asked how our birds cope with the sub-zero temperatures, and what extra care they might need.

Falconer Jess took this photo of Tura, our Siberian Eagle Owl, with frosty feathers. Jess explains “frost on the feathers tells us that there is no heat loss from the body. Feathers are excellent insulation, so for birds like Tura, this cold weather is perfectly fine.”

Another special adaptation that northern birds have is feathered feet, as demonstrated by Loki, our Snowy Owl. In the wild, Snowy Owls spend most of their time on the ground, so nobody wants cold feet! The feathers are like wearing extra thick cosy socks, which mean that they are always ready to catch their prey.

For our birds who would naturally be found in warmer environments, we have moved them to aviaries that are more sheltered from northerly winds, or that catch the sun a bit better at this time of year. We also increase their food intake, so that they can put on some extra layers to protect from the freezing conditions.

While looking after our captive birds is definitely our priority, we also keep an eye open for our wild neighbours. A female Kestrel who has taken up residence locally has been seen hunting on our Flying Ground. She was very confiding and Jess was concerned that she might be struggling to catch the voles within the neighbourhood, so we’ve been leaving out some food for her to see her through the next few weeks until the weather warms up.

Falconer Jade has been using her photography skills to capture the numerous thrush species which have descended on our hedgerows to devour the berries. While Blackbirds, Mistle and Song Thrushes are present all year round, they have been joined by additional birds from Scandinavia of the same species, as well as Redwings and Fieldfares. Staff recently counted over 20 Blackbirds feeding on the berries. These birds will soon be migrating back to their home territories further north in preparation for upcoming spring and breeding season.

Nestbox checking underway

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we have always been proud of our commitment to helping wild Owls and Kestrels through the provision of nest boxes across the local area. In 2008 we joined forces with the Thornham Owl Project and our number of boxes increased to almost 300!

Whilst our staff have been encouraged to participate in this important element of our work, the breeding season happens to coincide with our peak visitor season, which means that in the past, the task of monitoring these boxes fell to dedicated volunteers Roger Buxton, originator of the Thornham Owl Project, and his colleague, the ever-enthusiastic Kevin. However, Covid forced them to pause their efforts, and unfortunately, Roger and Kevin decided that they were no longer able to climb ladders necessary to reach the boxes.

We’ve spent a bit of time gathering our team together and are pleased that Senior Falconer and Head of Hospital Jess, alongside Maintenance Man Jay have taken responsibility for the project, supported by Dr Hugh Hanmer from the British Trust for Ornithology and our Education Officer Susan.

Checking the boxes takes place over the winter months initially, on days when the weather is calm and dry so that should a bird be found roosting in a box, the disturbance is kept to a minimum. Having not been checked since 2019, it was essential to get these checks done to assess how many boxes were still present, in good condition or in need of some maintenance or replacement.

Having contacted land owners first to confirm access, the team have set about visiting our boxes and are happy to report that occupancy seems to be very high, with most boxes having evidence of use in recent months. Some Owls were even seen leaving the boxes as the team approached, which is a good sign that they might be used later in the season for breeding.

All of these checks are done with the appropriate licences and permits in place, as Barn Owl nests are protected by law. It is hoped that we can recruit landowners and local volunteers to help monitor the boxes during the breeding season so that the chicks can be ringed by Hugh, Jess and Susan.

Finally, we would like to thank all the donor organisations and individuals who have maintained their sponsorship of the S.O.S. Wild Owl Nest Box Scheme through an unwelcome hiatus in preparation for the long-awaited re-generation of this valuable conservation project. Thank you.

Slow progress for impact Tawny

Tawny Owls in Suffolk need to have some road safety lessons, as we’re seeing more and more coming in having been hit by cars.

A very poorly Owl

One recent intake was found at the side of a busy road with severe head trauma. Upon arrival, it was clear that this Owl was in a bad way and we didn’t think it would survive. She had been hit on the left side of her head, which was evident from the extensive swelling and blood visible in her eye. We started treating her with pain relief and anti-inflammatories to ease the swelling. Within 24 hours she was able to stand unsupported, and the blood in her eyes had started to recede. An impact like this can cause ulceration in the eye, so once the swelling had dissipated, she was given topical gel treatment twice daily.

Falconers Izzy and Dolly apply treatment to her eye

We weren’t sure how much sight she had, as she required hand feeding for the first week or so. However, one morning when she was checked on, her food was gone, so that was a good sign that she was well on her way to recovery.

Looking better

Suffolk County Council lend a hand

We were very grateful for some extra help recently from ten employees of Suffolk County Council, who participated in a Employment Supported Volunteering Day with us.

The group was split into two groups of 5 to work in different areas of the Sanctuary.

One group was tasked with moving sand from our compound and layering it between the Owl Barn building, which houses our shop and main office area, and the feed hut and Raptor Hospital. This will improve access to this area for our maintenance staff, who have been improving the drainage from these buildings.

The second group was tasked with dismantling our old Rat and Bug enclosures at SOS2. This area has been ear-marked for improvement for a while, but required some extra help for it to be achieved.

Both groups worked really well all morning, and after lunch they came together to finish clearing away the area at SOS2.

Volunteer Coordinator Beckie says “They were a tremendous help and allowed us to complete some tasks which we would have struggled to achieve by ourselves.”

We are able to support local businesses and organisations with Employment Supported Volunteering Days, so if you’d like to organise a team building day with us, please contact Beckie on beckie@owlbarn.co.uk

Woodland Walk gets a makeover

Our Woodland Walk has been left to go wild over the past few years, and whilst it may have been a perfect place for wildlife, it has started to look a bit neglected.

With Suffolk Rural Solutions help, we’re hoping to redesign this area to make it suitable for wildlife and visitors, with educational stations to learn more about the plants and animals to be found there.

The orchard of wild fruit trees have been tidied, clearing away some of the ivy and dead wood. After just two days of work, the light levels on the ground were astonishing, and the whole area was now open and welcoming. The dead wood will be used to create some wildlife homes underneath the trees.

The area nearest the current Meerkat Kastle will be turned into a riot of colour as our Butterfly and Bee Garden. This will be planted with colourful, richly scented flowers that are fantastic for pollinators. The other areas around the trees will be planted with woodland glade flowers, and next winter we plan on planting lots of native bulbs to create a springtime treat for visitors to this area.

The small wildlife pond will also be worked on, creating a marshy area to encourage more amphibians and invertebrates to the area.

We will continue to work on this area throughout the year, so visitors can look forward to seeing the seasonal changes with every trip to us.

Sighted Guide Training COMPLETED

Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we are always looking for ways to improve our facilities and make them accessible for all.

For visitors with a visual impairment who might use a Guide Dog, we have strict rules in place to protect the welfare of our birds, many of whom get stressed when they have encountered dogs previously. With increasing support for the Guide Dogs UK Open Doors campaign, highlighting that it is an illegal offence to refuse admission to a person with a Guide Dog, we have taken action to enable us to support service users with a sight loss.

In the UK, over 2 million people are living with sight loss, and of these, 340,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted

The team learning about sight loss

Tim and Tyne from Guide Dogs UK recently attended the Sanctuary to deliver their Sighted Guide training to 14 members of staff and volunteers. The session included information about the services that Guide Dogs UK provide, some statistics about the numbers of people living with sight loss and what that means to them, as well as practical guidance on how to Sighted Guide someone.

Only 1% of people with sight loss have a Guide Dog

It was incredibly useful as the staff and volunteers came together to highlight potential areas of difficulty for people with visual impairments, such as navigating our paths, using the signage and finding seating on our flying ground. These will all be looked at in the near future to investigate any improvements we can easily make to make life easier for the growing number of people with sight loss in the UK.

By 2050, it is expected that the number of people with sight loss in the UK will be 4 million

Using special goggles, staff and volunteers could experience what different types of sight loss would “look” like to them.

In the meantime, if you, or someone you know, would like to book a visit to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, please rest assured that our team are now equipped to be able to Sighted Guide you and help you enjoy a fun day out at our attraction.

“I can’t wait to put what we’ve learnt today into practice!”

— Izzy

Animal Adventurers comes to Suffolk

Just before Christmas, we welcomed Mat Richards to our team on temporary secondment.

Mat has over 20 years of experience working in Zoological collections around the UK as an animal trainer. He specialises in big cats, marine mammals and, his first love, birds of prey! He recently started a YouTube channel called Animal Adventurers, travelling the world in search of wild animals to share with his followers back home via the power of the internet!

Mat has already visited some amazing places and seen some amazing wildlife, but wanted to return to his roots and spend some time recording where it all started, with falconry and training birds.

We are pleased to have Mat join us and in the short time he has been with us he has already developed new training methods for some of our more difficult characters to work with. All the birds we fly during our displays are hand reared, which makes them much easier to work with. However, just like other animals (humans included), they go through a rebellious teenage stage, which can last a few months or years depending on the bird! This makes them very difficult, and sometimes dangerous to work with, and unfortunately training often gets put on hold while the hormones sort themselves out, leading to a loss of trust and respect by both the bird and handlers.

Mat has been working with Rocky, our Turkey Vulture, Ozzie our Laughing Kookaburra and our Ravens Charles and Rey, all of whom have developed some bad habits which makes them unsuitable for displays. Once Mat has worked out what makes each bird tick, he will bring in the rest of our team so that they can build up their confidence working with these birds again, using positive re-enforcement to reward the behaviours we want the birds to display.

While he is with us, Mat will also be helping to create some new content for our social media channels and website, which we can’t wait to share with you all.

If you’d like to find out more about Animal Adventurers, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel.

A busy year for the Education Team

With Covid restrictions lifting and teachers eager to bring back normality to their classes, this year was the busiest so far since Suffolk Owl Sanctuary hired a dedicated Education Officer. Susan has thoroughly enjoyed working with Bethany, Dolly, Izzy, Jade and the rest of the team to bring fun learning sessions and activities to a wider audience this year.

The year started with a visit by Susan and Dolly to our friends at The Hive to deliver a session for a local SEN school who were looking for places to locate nestboxes. They delivered a fun session around the campfire talking about the different owls in the area and what each species needs, then explored the site and helped them choose suitable locations for their home made boxes.

“Our student like practical challenges, so being told what makes a good Owl box location by type of Owl meant they could work as a team to scout out good locations”

— Priory School

Pellet Detectives remains the most popular session

We then welcomed several local Schools for visits to the Sanctuary, where they enjoyed Guided Walks to learn more about our birds (who were unable to fly due to local Avian Influenza cases). Jess and Jade helped answer questions from Suffolk New College students, who visited to learn more about enclosure design as part of their course. We also delivered a Virtual Session to a group of high school children, remotely supervising their Pellet Detectives session and going into some details about Adaptations.

”All was very good and informative. Nicely spaced out activities and displays” - Suffolk New College

”Everyone found the Pellet Detectives fascinating! Susan was fantastic and we all had a wonderful day! Thank you! - Bealings School

Nick receiving a donation from the Stowmarket Lions

During half term, we attended the West Suffolk Home Education Fair in Bury St Edmunds and after the break we ran a Science Week workshop at Thurston Library. We were invited to talk to Stowmarket Lions and Keeper Nick was able to step in due to illness and delivered a presentation about our work. We welcomed a few primary schools for visits during this time, as well as organising a fun day learning more about our work for the ZEST group, young people supported by St Elizabeth Hospice, and the Tribase Home Education Group who returned to become Pellet Detectives once again.

“Overall presentation was very good and the speaker was very engaging. Evening enjoyed by all members of our group.” - Stowmarket Lions

Our stall all set up and ready to go at the Otley Campus Spring Fair

Over the Easter holidays, we attended our first large event of the year at Suffolk New College Otley Campus Spring Fair. The day was a huge success with over 1000 visitors in attendance. We laid out some Pellet Detectives trays as well as some other biofacts for visitors to learn more about. The Pellets were a big hit, with some families staying for well over half an hour to rummage through and find the bones. It was very pleasing to see families from this event visiting the Sanctuary over the Easter holidays.

The calm before the schools arrived at the Suffolk Schools Farm and Country Fair

After Easter, we had a number of schools visit us, delivered a few talks to local community groups and had an overseas Virtual Session to a school in Guernsey. At the end of April, Susan and Dolly attended our biggest event of the year, the Suffolk Schools Farm and Country Fair. This event hasn’t run since 2019 so neither knew quite what to expect. What followed was an intense day trying to engage the 3500 KS2 level students who attended. We had Pellet Detectives and Food Chain bracelets as activities, and our stall was swamped for most of the day. We handed out VIP passes to all the supervising teachers to hand out to their pupils, and had a good return rate on these over the summer holidays.

May and June were the busiest months for our Education Team. Between them, they worked with 15 different groups and attended 2 events.

“From a teacher point of view, it was brilliant to be on a trip that was organised so well. Each part of the day was well planned and it meant I could also enjoy the day alongside the children without having to worry about where we were going next or trying to find our way round.” - Morland C of E Primary School Robin Class

“The children really enjoyed walking around the sanctuary looking at all of the birds. They enjoyed learning new facts. All the children are very excited to visit the sanctuary again and have been talking about it every day since our visit.” Morland C of E Primary School Owl Class

Our involvement with the St Elizabeth Hospice Big Hoot Trail in Ipswich led to us being asked to attend the launch event in Christchurch Park, with volunteers Jan, Sophie and Jenny manning a stall at our Big Hoot, Owl See You In My Dreams, in the town centre. As a result of this, we welcomed Botesdale Brownies, Debenham Guides and Stowmarket Brownies to the Sanctuary so that they could complete their Big Hoot badges, and both Susan and Bethany were presented with a badge of their own.

“I liked seeing all the different types of Barn Owl & learning about them; I didn’t realise there was more than one type!” - Guide Alice

Susan attended Gainsborough Library over the summer holidays to run some Pellet Detectives sessions for their kids club.

Over the summer holidays, we welcomed the Royal Owners Club and SWAGS for guided walks around the Sanctuary. We ran fun learning sessions at Newmarket and Gainsborough libraries, as well as supporting Get Suffolk Reading with several local events around Stowmarket and Debenham.

“All of the children (and most of the parents) enjoyed dissecting the Owl Pellets!” - Gainsborough Library

Fairstead House from Newmarket visited us on a cold but sunny day in November

The autumn saw us attend our third large event of the year at Helmingham Hall. Volunteer Sarah helped Susan with a joint stall for Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue, helping to raise awareness and funds for these two charities. We also attended a second Home Education Fair and delivered two talks to community groups in the region. We had a few groups visit us on site, but a number of schools requested outreach visits this term. These had unfortunately dropped off since we adopted new guidelines about not transporting birds off site in the interests of their welfare, as recommended by Avian experts. Izzy delivered a morning of learning for students from Suffolk New College and answered their questions about careers in animal care and how we run our Raptor Hospital.

”Susan was very efficient, spoke well and a good evening was had by all” - Levington Gardening Club

The last visit of the year was to Lakenheath Elementary School, where we delivered two sessions on Adaptations and one on History of Falconry. It was great to engage with the group of American students and staff at the school and teach them some of the commonly used terms that are derived from Falconry.

“The kids loved learning about Falconry and the different terminology, comparing US to UK English. The whole experience was brilliant!” - Lakenheath Elementary School

In addition to our booked groups, Susan and Bethany, supported by our other staff, have delivered courses and sessions for Home Educating families on site throughout the year.

Homework for the Home Education group has resulted in some very creative pieces this year.

Bethany has particularly enjoyed leading most of the Pellet Detectives sessions this year, and witnessing the “eww” turning into excitement as they start discovering what the Owls have been eating.

Dolly has enjoyed introducing some of our flying team to guests during our popular experiences and courses, teaching them all about the birds and inspiring a passion for nature.

Susan has enjoyed attending events in the community, raising awareness about our work and having meaningful conversations with members of the public about Owl conservation, monitoring and rescue.

Although overall the number of bookings was down compared to 2021, our involvement with some large events meant that we engaged with over twice as many people in 2022! As schools returned to “normal” learning again, we’ve seen an increase in in-person bookings. Our Virtual bookings are still going to be available for groups who can’t visit us in person, and offer good value for money for those struggling with costs. We knew that our decision to stop taking birds offsite (for their health and welfare) would impact on our outreach programme, so this has been developed to include more interactive elements which appear to have gone down well with the bookings received so far.

We are already taking bookings for the first half of 2023, which bodes well for the future. There are some new developments happening on site which will help enhance the visit for schools, and the team will be introducing some exciting new learning sessions and materials for in person sessions after Easter.