New arrival on Saturday…
2.45 am brought a telephone call from DJ Ian in Gosfield who was returning from a gig in Canvey Island when an owl literally hit his windscreen. Luckily he stopped and picked up the bird who turned out to be a beautiful female Tawny Owl. She very happily settled in the passenger seat of his van but then started to investigate her surroundings and ended up sitting on his handbrake. Ian called me to ask for advice, which I happily gave him once I came round, and arranged for him to keep the bird in a box somewhere quiet and then take him to Linkswood Veterinary Centre in the morning. As it was my Fundraising Talks Day at Jordan’s Farm, and I was scheduled to be there by 9.30 after feeding all my current owls and birds of prey, it was the best place for him to go if he needed urgent attention. Linkswood made contact later that day and I went over to collect Gosfield Two between my morning and afternoon Talks! On inspection, I could not find any injuries per se but one eye was closed. The exterior looked fine, just a little bit swollen, so I treated that over the next few days. As I passed Heidi’s farm on the way back to Jordan’s Farm, she kindly agreed to look after her for the afternoon and I collected her later that day. A stunningly beautiful Tawny, I had her checked out yesterday by my Vet Robert Lees at Linkswood Veterinary Centre and he confirmed there was no injury at the back of the eye and gave me some more ointment to administer to sort out the swelling. She is getting better each day and will, hopefully, start feeding herself before long. Many thanks to Ian for picking the owl up and getting her the help she needed and to Heidi for babysitting. Will keep you posted on her progress…
