As the colder weather turns more spring like we expected to see an increase in the number of birds being brought into the hospital. The first baby Tawny Owl in 2005 came in on the 20th March. This has not happened this year. In fact it has been one of the quietest months since I started to help out.

We have only treated five wild birds during the last month. Two of these had to be euthanased; one was a Buzzard, which came in via the Hungerford Vet, which had badly torn its wing on a barbed wire fence and the other was a Barn Owl with an open wing fracture.

Another Barn Owl was brought in with a bad mouth ulcer and died while in our care.

Tawny Owl in hospital

A Tawny Owl which came in to us from Kings Somborne in early March having been in a road traffic accident has recovered well and was released near to where it was found on 6th April.

Another interesting case for us was a Barn Owl which went for a car ride on a very cold day. Unfortunately it traveled on the roof rack stuck in luggage netting. It traveled from Timsbury near Romsey to Salisbury. When the car driver got out of the car in Salisbury to deliver a parcel he noticed the Owl in a poorly state. He bought it straight down to us where it spent some time in the hospital before being placed in an exterior re-hab aviary to complete its recovery. It was also released on the 6th April.

Mike Wallis.