FLYING AROUND THE FARLEIGHS WITH ROY MORRIS
BUT WHEN THE FLYING STOPS...
Last month’s piece about the family of three young barn owls raised successfully in a nestbox at Tutsham Mill – and ringed for scientific study and conservation – has been thrown into sharp relief by my owl escapades of the last month. Our ringing group periodically visits Folly Wildlife Rescue in Tunbridge Wells to ring owls and raptors that have been brought into the centre either injured or as abandoned young. Orphaned baby birds rarely survive without the patience and skill required for almost round the clock feeding. When injuries are involved, especially to wings, Folly has the services of a wildlife vet and surgery to draw upon. But, on the birds’ release, there is always staff frustration at having no way of knowing how the bird (or fox, or badger) will fare on its own.
Having a bird uniquely numbered and identifiable with a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ring is one way, at least, of having some chance of knowing if, and for how long, it survives. A few weeks ago, I went with Alex, my young trainee, to ring nine tawny owls, three barn owls and three kestrels, all of which had been brought in as chicks when their nest boxes had been destroyed in gales. None of them had suffered physical injuries but had been fed and cared for with as little human contact as possible to prepare them for eventual release and life in the wild. As testament to their wariness of humans, we were required to wear full face protection when handling the tawnies - their talons certainly proved sharp enough to draw blood from unprotected fingers, so our eyes had to be well protected from attack. As can be seen in the photos, they may look cuddly, but they have been rightly raised to be wary of other animals - and of humans in particular!
On the day we were informed of the tawnies’ successful release, the centre also took in two injured barn owls. One had an open wing fracture and sadly had to be euthanised by the vet, and the other, picked up weak and unable to fly, died soon after it had been brought in. As both birds had BTO rings, the numbers have been put into the BTO’s database and we await details of where and when they were ringed – information that will be fed back to the ringers and the detail of birds’ demise will also add to the data we have on the species’ survival and movements.
Running an organisation like Folly Wildlife Rescue of course is not cheap and it is solely funded by donations. Like many charities in the current economic climate, it is also facing severe financial problems that could lead to imminent closure – and unfortunate animals like the owls in the picture being denied help or, even, the dignity of being painlessly put down if beyond help.
If you would like to learn more about what Folly does, or feel you could contribute to keeping this wonderful facility open and able to continue its work, please visit their website or their Just Giving page.