Eye drops being given to wild Tawny Owl.

October has been another quiet month with thirteen wild birds brought into the hospital. We have had a few of our own park birds in for short stays while their aviaries were undergoing maintenance and refurbishment, and two other park birds in for treatment. More about them later.

We received five Tawny Owls with various injuries, mostly head injuries probably from road traffic accidents. Two had to be euthanized and one died. The photo shows Mike Riley administering eye drops to one of the birds with a head injury. It is recovering well and should eventually be able to go back into the wild.

The Tawny I reported on last month with the repaired fractured wing is progressing well.

Wild Barn Owl recovering in hospital bay

We have treated three Kestrels; two had serious injuries and the other was very thin and is progressing well.

Four Barn Owls and a Buzzard all appear to have been injured in vehicle accidents. Two of the Barn Owls had to be euthanized but the other two are doing well as can be seen from the photos. The Buzzard is a very recent patient and it is still early days in his treatment.

Figaro, one of our Brahminy Kites is still with us having had surgery on his left foot. It is recovering slowly but he will remain in the hospital for a little while longer.

Danebury

The other long term park patient is Danebury the Bald Eagle. He is in the hospital being treated for a chest infection with antibiotics and regular moisture treatment to help his breathing.

Last month I reported on Widgeon, our Harris Hawk. Following a lot of tests carried out by our vet John Chitty, it was evident that Widgeon was very ill. The decision was taken that he was to be euthanized to avoid him having any further discomfort and pain.The Gymnogene, Wordsworth has now left the hospital and is in his own aviary in the park.

We hope to release into the wild the six Red Kites currently in the rehabilitation aviary during the first week of December.