louislee

On 25-Oct-2012, when I was having a lecture, my mother sent me a heart-throbbing Whatsapp message. She exclaimed that her colleague had spotted an owl in between two cars in an indoor car park. The attached picture showed a small, gravel-colored owl standing in a standard owl posture. Out of the fear that the traffic would directly threaten its life, I set off for the car park and attempted to found the owl, an Oriental Scops Owl.

I arrived with a great relief that the owl is still alive. But the fact that it was standing right at the position of the rear bumper if a car parks there. As I approached it, it woke up and flew onto the ground. Luckily it was not run over by a truck that have just passed. So I realized the need to call the SPCA to capture and release it in the wild. Unfortunately, they required me to make the owl 'stabilized and stationary' for them to get it. And they need a substantial time to arrive.

Finally I managed to get a commodious carton box in which I contained the owl with the help of a soft jacket. However, the SPCA could not arrive in a moment, leaving me nervous as I have got some stuff to do. I decided to bring it to my home first and keep it in a cool place. While my home is closer to the SPCA centre, I could also resume doing what is urgent at the moment.

Having checked the bird book for identification, I wanted to take out my jacket from the box. Carelessly, I let the owl fly on to my booksheld and then my clothes. But it gave me several minutes to take photos of it as immediately covering it with cloth again would definitely scare it. So, I just waited and waited. Finally, it was in the box again. This time I make sure that it would stay in the box before I left it alone. I watched it to sleep and I picked up the phone and called SPCA, stating that it is stabilized in a box and it is secured in order to permit them sending staff to retrieve it.


Flickr 上 grey999hk 的 _MG_7941

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While waiting, I appreciated the feather pattern of the owl, which is truly magnificent. After an hour the staff from SPCA arrived and the owl was escorted to their center. It will be released in a very short time. I hope it will continue its journey and not to go into dangerous places like parking lots again.


Flickr 上 grey999hk 的 _MG_7990

Flickr 上 grey999hk 的 _MG_8007

[ Last edited by louislee at 27/10/2012 01:15 ]

wilsondring

Sze

Thanks for your kindness!

puppymic

Thank you

John Holmes

Well done, Louis !

ajohn

I have followed up with KFBG about this Oriental Scops Owl. I received this statement from KFBG this morning:

Quote:

"Following its discovery reported in the earlier thread, the Oriental Scops Owl was passed to the Wildlife Rescue Centre at Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden (KFBG) on 26th October, 2012. An initial vet check revealed slight abrasion to the right eye which is common in birds that have had window strike trauma. The owl received several days of nursing and after it was considered fit for the wild, it was released into secondary woodland on  Kwun Yam Shan on 1st November 2012.

A happy ending for this rescued owl.

If you see any injured wild birds, please report to the AFCD (Hotline: 1823); SPCA (Hotline: 2711 1000) or KFBG (2483 7136)"

It's great to know that Louislee's actions have helped this owl to recover, and that it is now safely back in the wild and able to continue with it's migration.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank KFBG for all the wildlife rehabilitation work they do in Hong Kong. I often work with KFBG, so I have some idea of the number of birds that pass through the centre every year, including some rare and threatened species. Some cases I know are very difficult to deal with and require considerable investment of time and effort by the wildlife rehabilitation unit to allow the individual to recover.