Our first baby Barn Owl (Tyto alba) of the season is here.
Barn Owls often use chimneys to nest in. In this instance, the home owners did not realize there was a family of Barn Owls using the chimney until they lit their first fire for the season, and this youngster came tumbling down into the fireplace.
They reacted quickly and pulled the hapless youngster from the fire before he sustained anything more than a few singed feathers and a bruised wing.
He has been in our care for the last few days and his minor injuries have been treated.
The home owners, residing in Nottingham Road's Gowrie Village, have decided that an owl box will be safer for him and his family than the chimney will be, so the FreeMe KZN's Owl Box Project team will be installing a Barn Owl box and he will be reunited with his family.
Would you like to contribute and be involved in the work FREEME KZN does? Then please join the Custodianship Program.
http://www.freemekzn.co.za/become-a-custodian/
News supplied by FreeMe Rehabilitation Centre.