Rescued Raptors

Two more birds of prey that were rescued by a Foxglove supporter were brought in to the centre to be ringed before their release back into the wild. This beautiful Barn Owl was given plenty of TLC to build up its strength. During periods of snow cover small mammals such as voles and shrews stay underneath the snow. Although mice will move about on top of it, they spend most of their time under ground eating stored food. When snow cover is more several centimetres deep and/or frozen hard the owls will have great difficulty finding and catching food. It’s at times like these that some Barn Owls turn temporarily to unusual food sources such as small birds. 

A Kestrel too was ready for release after a few weeks of care after being found injured. Like the Barn Owl, Kestrel's feed mainly on small mammals and struggle to hunt through an impenetrable barrier of deep snow.

Fingers crossed that storm Darcy will not last for long!