Owls

Once again I had the privilege of ringing a rehab bird from Radical Raptors. This time it was without Mark, although Shirley was with me. There was a little Wood Owl that needed to be ringed, although I didn’t realise that Wood Owls were so small! In general, I love looking at owls, but I don’t like ringing them. They tend to bite and make intimidating clicking noises with their bills. But when I saw this little one I fell in love! What a precious little thing! I thoroughly enjoyed ringing it, and it boosted my confidence in owls hugely! Another treat was seeing the Spotted Eagle-owl chick. What a cutie! All in all a very good owl day!

Hopefully in time the eye will heal.

A most precious little Wood Owl!

A protective mom and dad watching over the fluff ball.

Radical Raptors round 2

A return trip to Radical Raptors yielded a lifer for me, a Black-chested Snake Eagle. Dennis had been rehabilitating this bird, which was almost ready for release, and asked Mark to come and ring it. Mark was kind enough to share the love and so one morning Mark, Cindy, Shane and I headed to Radical Raptors to ring the bird. Shane had the honour of ringing the juvenile bird as Mark has already ringed one of this species. A relatively swift and simple ringing and series of measurements, albeit with some blood drawn – bird 1 human 0, and the deed was done. Mark and Cindy headed off to work and Shane and I spent some time looking at the birds and chatting to Dennis. A special treat was to see BJ, the Cape Vulture, having his breakfast. Since being in captivity, and specifically being fed by Dennis, he has developed a tendency to beg, like a little baby bird! It is a most curious thing to see this big bird tuck his long neck back into his body, spread his wings and flutter them around while making croaking noises. And how he runs, a skipping hop which entertained me no end! A ringing job well done was rewarded with coffee and a chocolate brownie at the local café next to radical raptors, ah yeah!

Ringing the bird.

Beautiful eyes but vicious bite!

Weighing the bird.

Ringed and ready for release another day.

I don't knows you..

Black-shouldered Kite.

Rock Kestrel.

Food, food, food!

Pleeaase give me food!

Radical Raptors

Back in PMB, I had the awesome privelege of going to Raptor Rehab run by Ben Hoffman, part of the African Birds of Prey Sanctuary, to ring some rehabilitated raptors. To see these powerful birds up close is really amazing, and then to handle them and ring them, and on occasion to release them, what a pleasure! Just before I left for Plett, a group of us (Lindy, Patrick, Shane, my dad and myself) went to ring some of the rehab birds, which are at various stages of rehabilitation and will one day be ready for release. I had a wonderful time and thought it would be the last time I would ring rehab raptors.

Holding a Jackal Buzzard, Buteo rufofuscus. Photo by Lindy Thompson.

My crazy people, Patrick (left), Lindy (back) and Shane (front), ringing a Long-crested Eagle, Lophaetus occipitalis.

But last week I went with Mark to Radical Raptors, birds of prey rehabilitation and awareness centre, run by Dennis Robson, to ring some owls. Maybe it is their beautiful big eyes, watching everything, or the impressive snap/click type sound that they make with their beaks, but owls seem a little more aggressive and scarier in the hand than some of the other raptors I've handled. Mark and I each ringed 2 Spotted Eagle Owls, Bubo africanus, that had been brought to the centre as fluffballs that people had picked up off the ground thinking they had fallen out of their nests. The birds are all under six months old and are ready for release into the real world, now with metal rings around their legs! I took the opportunity after ringing to have a quick look around the centre, it is a well kept, well presented centre although it does have a smaller selection of birds than ABoPS, but this is not necessarily a bad thing considering why the birds are kept in captivity. I am looking forward to return trips to the centre, and hopefully some more rehab birds to ring for release!

Grumpy bird! Bubo africanus. Photo by Mark Brown.

Measuring the bill as Dennis holds the bird. Photo by Mark Brown.