I’m pleased to be back after a couple of months off following surgery to a hand which took longer to heal than I expected. My thanks to Lou for covering for me for the December hospital report.

On return I found the hospital still very busy with all our larger bays full, as well as some of the smaller ones. Mike Riley reported that it had been busy for most of my absence.

Barn Owl with wing fracture

The hospital has treated 11 wild birds and 2 park birds during the last month. We have had 2 Sparrowhawks in, one which had been found on the road near Tidworth. It recovered very quickly and was released. The other from the Winchester area was wet and thin and took time to start feeding. It has now recovering and is putting on weight. A Barn Owl was brought in by a driver after the Owl had flown into his windscreen. It had an open fracture of the left wing and was euthanased by the vet.

We have treated 3 more Tawny Owls; another one suffering from Frounce (there is information about Frounce in the November hospital update). Another came in via our friends at the Veterinary Surgery in Hungerford with a fractured right wing. The third was as a result of an RTA in Lasham village with a double wing fracture and damaged right eye. All three had to be euthanased.

Hobby doing well in the hospital

We also cared for a Kestrel which arrived very thin and wet. It was unable to fly. We treated it for two weeks and the bird showed little improvement so the decision was taken to euthanase it. Another Hobby with limited wing movement came to us via an RSPCA officer. The bird may have been attacked or had flown into an obstruction. It is improving well.

The Barn owl which didn't want to leave the box

We successfully released 2 Barn Owls in December, one in the Meon Valley and the other in Preston Candover. This one was a little unsure about leaving the carry box. If fact he spent 20 minutes just sitting there looking out over the farmland. I had to remove him from the box and sat him on a post. He then took off and flew very well across the fields. In reality, he was probably a bit scared and not happy with the prospect of having to hunt for food again instead of it being presented daily to him.

Sirius, the Striated Caracara and Galaxy, the Spectacled Owl are both still with us receiving treatment. They are both responding well. Coll, the Black Kite has returned to his aviary.