Screech Owl Sanctuary

 Welcome to the start of our 20th anniversary year

 As reported in the last newsletter we asked for suggestions on a name change to reflect the diversification we are now going through and the most popular suggestion was for ‘The Screech Owl Wildlife Park’. We still have to trade under Screech Owl Sanctuary but feel that ‘Wildlife Park’ gives visitors a better feel for the new animals we are introducing to the site. As you are all aware we have experienced the coldest winter on record and it has been very difficult for us trying to feed the animals without the food freezing before it has been eaten. Daisy and Malteser haven’t had that problem as they have been roaming out and about the site during the day whilst we have been closed to the public eating the longer grass on the banks and hedges, they have had a whale of a time.

I hope you have been to see the film ‘Legends of the Guardians’ the owls of Ga’hoole which was released in September of last year and saw the animated versions of ‘Digger’ and ‘Fluffy’ during their escapades and adventures. The film is due to be released on DVD format on April 11^th of this year and is well worth a look to see if you can spot our feathered friends. 

DIVERSIFICATION

As reported in the last newsletter we decided to diversify at the sanctuary and I think we have to date achieved our aim, which was to open up to a wider visitor attraction with the introduction of the emus, miniature Shetland ponies and the meerkats. The new animals were very popular with visitors during 2010 and we endeavoured to provide close encounter experiences for visitors of all age groups.

For this year we have been busy sourcing information and the availability of Alpacas to add to our collection and after visiting different breeders have decided to purchase three boys namely Eddie, Giovanni and Guiseppi. They are really cute with wonderful temperaments and we now have to build an enclosure and shelter before they are delivered within the next two months.

As the new season approaches we will be re-stocking our shop with many new lines such as new animal fluffy’s, meerkats, alpacas etc.

We are also pleased to announce our new vet Chris Gardner from St.Clements Veterinary Clinic in Truro, I am sure he will be a great asset to the sanctuary as he has had lots of experience with different animals and as we are diversifying his experience will be invaluable.

 OWL HOSPITAL

        Once again it has been a very busy year in the sanctuary’s hospital unit. In the few weeks running up to Christmas, during the cold snap, we were inundated with wild owl admissions. During times of snow and extremely cold weather British owls struggle to find enough food to sustain themselves because when there is snow on the ground many rodents will stay hidden underground. Therefore owls are forced to hunt outside of their territories, often encroaching onto roadsides and other dangerous hunting grounds. Consequently some are involved in road traffic accidents or fly into fences etc. If they are lucky they get picked up by caring members of the public and brought into our hospital unit for treatment.

During 2010 we had 21 tawny owls admitted of which 7 died but 14 were released back into the wild. We had 7 barn owls admitted: 3 died and 4 were released. We had 6 baby tawnies admitted but in previous years this figure has been much higher and it might suggest that the message is starting to get across to the public. So just to reiterate please don’t pick up baby tawnies over the next few months even if they are on the ground they are simply branching out from the nest and will return when ready, completely unaided. A tawny owl baby was once witnessed climbing the height of a telegraph pole to get back to its nest just using its beak and talons! Anyway, I’m pleased to report that all six babies we had brought in were successfully kept wild and released during September of last year.

One particularly unusual admission was a short eared owl which came in on 26^th October who was found injured in the road in Hughtown, St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly. It was treated for a broken wing by the local vets and after contacting us to see if we would admit it to our care, was flown over to Penzance and brought in by the vets mother who lives locally. I am delighted to say that despite having to have its wing amputated it has recovered well as you can see from the picture below and will have an aviary of its own soon.

In summary, we are delighted that we managed to return 18 out of the 28 owls which were admitted during 2010 to the wild, especially when we reflect on some of the horrific injuries many of the owls came in with, which proves a successful year for the hospital unit. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support, without which it would not be possible to carry out this important work.

 OBITUARIES

I am sad to report we have lost one of our meerkats due to the adverse weather conditions. It is always sad to lose one of our animals but I am glad to say the other four meerkats are doing well.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS

1991  Screech Owl Sanctuary Trust was founded at Rew Farm, Sweetshouse, near Bodmin where Tom and Carolyn started out on their dream of caring for sick and injured owls which opened to the public on weekends and bank holidays. They started up a hospital for sick and injured owls, rehabilitation and education to all who were interested in these wonderful feathered friends, even starting up a Junior Owl Club for 5 – 15 year olds.

Carolyn was not just a pretty face but a talented poet as well. Below is a poem she wrote which won first prize in a competition where her prize was a dinner invitation with author E.V. Thompson. Ernest became a regular visitor and took a keen interest in the owls and our work, we were delighted when he came along and opened our first owl hospital which was on the upper floor of an old barn at Rew Farm.

The Tawny Owl    by Carolyn Screech         The Tawny Owl that flies at night,                         With velvet wings for silent flight,          You’ll hear him hooting in the trees,                        A haunting sound that rides the breeze,         He hears the rodent scurry below,                       And to his prey great talons show,         A tasty morsel to devour,                     The cat with wings that show great power.

 

1994 Our move to our current location near Indian Queens

1998  Carolyn was very concerned about the number of casualties being admitted that were road casualties and was the pioneer in designing a new road sign that depicted a black owl in flight in a red triangle to warn drivers to be aware of the owls. Sadly due to lack of funding the highways never took on these signs but it did bring awareness to all protection agencies of this plight. When the new St.Mewan bypass was opened a rapid decline in the barn owl population was recorded due to the increased traffic speeds resulting in dozens of birds being killed or injured. In a bid to stem the casualty rate Tom Screech launched an appeal to pay for a tree planting project to provide cover and perches for the owls along what was once a natural hunting ground. A plaque in memory of Mrs Sheila Burnett who was an avid supporter of the sanctuary, wife of former Cornwall and Restormel Councillor Ralph Burnett, of St.Dennis was unveiled at St.Mewan dip.

1999  Boris our Western Siberian Eagle Owl underwent ground breaking eye surgery at an eye clinic in Hereford under vet Paul Evans where he underwent a two and a half hour operation to remove cataracts. It was a huge success and resulted in him gaining 60% vision in his left eye and 90% in his right eye.  The pioneering surgery was covered by all local and international newspapers and television worldwide.

2002  Saw the opening of the new owl hospital by TV celebrity Jeremy Spake and during the first year nursed back to health and released 5 sparrow hawks, 7 barn owls, 10 kestrels, 20 buzzards and 33 tawny owls.

The sanctuary was short listed to the final three of the BBC Animal Awards

A commendation was received from the zoo licensing inspector for the active involvement in education, research and conservation carried out. Carolyn holds the position of treasurer with the International owl society and Tom was elected chairman. The sanctuary pledged £500 to fund training workshops for owl conservation and rehabilitation of their indigenous owls in Uganda.

2003

Sam our snowy owl was invited to Waterstone’s book shop in London to promote the launch of the Harry Potter book and when the travelling box was opened he immediately leapt onto a pile of books, looked around the room and hooted his comical (Aww) to everyone’s  amusement.

The UK Animal Awards ceremony took place on the evening of Sunday 2nd December at the BBC studios in London but we were sworn to secrecy until the 27^th December when it was aired on screen. I am delighted to tell you we won!!  Many celebrities were present including our old friend Jeremy Spake and Toyah Wilcox who was sat at our table. Rolf Harris was also in attendance and had already met Tom and Carolyn when they featured on his programme ‘Rolf’s Amazing World of Animals’ where Boris, a western Siberian eagle owl with cataracts was featured.  The UK Animal Award was presented by celebs John Craven and Michaela Strachan.

2004  After two years of planning and public meetings the new route for the A30 seems imminent and is due to start in January 2005. This had a major impact on the sanctuary but only time will tell how much detrimental effect it has had. 

2006  Ashy-faced project was re-launched with the help of a kind and generous donation made by a gentleman and fundraising events which proved to be a great success. Previously the sanctuary in conjunction with the International Owl Society has provided support and financial assistance to Zoo dom in the Dominican Republic to assist them in the conservation of the ashy-faced barn owl which was becoming extremely endangered and only found in this area.

2007  During the period from early November until the spring we frequently encountered problems with access to the sanctuary as well as our home due to the new A30 road works.

2008  The Ashy faced owls have bred not once but twice this year. The first two babies hatched, were a boy and a girl, then four months later they hatched another boy. This was so impressive it was even reported in the International Owl Society magazine for September 2008.

INDIA PROJECT WAS LAUNCHED – A request from an Indian Conservation Club for educational DVD’s and CD’s on owls and other animals to enable them to provide teaching aids for the children in schools was provided by the sanctuary.

 GOSS MOOR OPEN DAY 

The open day which officially opened the Goss Moor National Nature reserve and seven mile pathway for walkers, cyclists and horse riders was held at the sanctuary on May 11^th The sanctuary car park was full of cyclists ready for the official opening, the top field was full of cars and the sanctuary which was free entry for the day and was bursting at the seams. It was a special day for the local people as the old chaotic A30 was now closed and has become a tranquil and peaceful trail for cyclists, walkers and horse riders and permanently traffic free. The funds raised on the day went to the ‘Precious lives’ appeal to help build a much needed children’s hospice in Cornwall. We helped raise funds of approx. £1500.00 at the sanctuary with around a further £1000.00 being raised by Natural England from the cyclists.

2010   DIVERSIFICATION

This was the start of our diversification programme which saw the introduction of Emus, miniature Shetland ponies and meerkats for the first time which have all been very popular with the public both young and old.

Launch of the film : Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole.  Early last year we were approached by a film company to help them produce an animated owl film based on the books by author Kathryn Lasky. This film has been made in Australia and is being distributed by Warner Bros and directed by Zack Snyder with Dame Helen Mirren as a voice over for one of the characters.

 UNUSUAL ADMISSIONS 

There have been many amusing admissions to the sanctuary over the years including a rare long eared owl that flew into a postal van in Redruth, Cornwall. The postman managed to wrap it in his jacket and take it back to the depot where it was placed in a cardboard box and transferred to our sanctuary and was aptly named ‘Pat’ by the staff.

A telephone box in Liskeard, Cornwall was the unusual home for a barn owl named ‘Busby’ who despite repeated attempts to move him kept returning to the kiosk for shelter. He was only five weeks old and could not hunt for himself and was eventually cared for at the sanctuary until he learnt to hunt for himself and released to the wild again.

We even had a baby Barn owl admitted many years ago with 3 legs, sadly he was very weak and malnourished and died shortly after admission.

 A barn owl was admitted from a boat yard in Lostwithiel and initially when we opened the box we thought he was soaking wet. After further examination it became evident that this young owl was covered in yacht varnish and we called him ‘RONSEAL’. This owl was successfully released after his first moult back to the wild.

REHABILITATION HISTORY

 We began recording all owl admissions in September 1993 and to date with our recent admission of a barn owl this week has now totalled 928 birds being admitted to the sanctuary for care. Most of our admissions during our 20 year history have been barn owls and tawny owls. Some of our not so common owl admissions include 1 long eared owl, 3 little owls and 6 short eared owls. During the early years we also cared for many other birds of prey such as buzzards, kestrels, sparrow hawks and several hobbys. Unfortunately during the latter years we have only been able to admit owls due to the great demand placed on our hospital facilities and financial resources. We have also had many captive bred owls which have been found abandoned and not been able to reunite them with their former owners. These poor unfortunate orphans have been given a loving and comfortable home at our sanctuary.

Our 20th Anniversary open day will take place on Sunday 3rd April 2011 from 10am – 4pm where there will be free admission to all visitors and an opportunity to come along and help us celebrate this important milestone. We would like to thank everyone for your continued support and without your help we would not have been able to continue our valuable work. E.V Thompson and his family will be coming along to help celebrate this special occasion.