Hi Everyone,
You may have noticed that we haven't been around much! The main reason is that we have been snowed under, it is the week before Christmas and we still have loads of kids in.
We have come to the conclusion that we have to try to turn ourselves into a more efficient machine to attract more volunteers and maybe enough donations to be able to pay a few people to help. The alternative to this would be to pack it in which we can't do...we committed ourselves and we fully intend to see it through.
We have managed to get a few more volunteers but not enough so we have to do something. One of the changes we are making is to do away with the blog and we have started a Facebook page instead.
Although we love the look and feel of the blog, it is too much one way traffic as it is not very user friendly for you, the readers and supporters. We would love people to get more involved and all that you can do at the moment is post the odd comment (there have been some odd ones as well :) )but not the ability to become a part of what is happening.
We are still working on our Facebook page, but it is up and running.
Please please come and join us. Go to the link at the top of the page, click through to Facebook and become a fan of the Haven, you will then be able to post, join in discussions and upload pictures if you wish.
We would love to see you all there and we thank you for your ongoing support.
EB has been tasked with getting the cams sorted as the rain has gotten into them,
Lots of love OwlMomma & Eaglebeard
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Wednesday 26 August 2009
The most bizarre....you will love this!
Remember Bo Peep? well, as it turns out, Bo is a boy (we think) and since he has grown up, he just hangs out in the garden and hospital a bit like my shadow, usually making a total pest of himself. Everyone knows him, he is a part of the furniture really.
Three days ago, Bo went missing. He just wasn't there in the morning, whereas he usually sits on the roof until I come out and then flies into the hospital with me but there was no sign of him anywhere.
We searched everywhere for him but came to the conclusion that a sparrowhawk must have taken him. Until he went missing, I hadn't realised how much I loved him to be honest so we have been a bit sad to say the least.
This morning, my friend and next door neighbour came round and said she thought there was something down her chimney as her cat was sitting on top of the woodburner, just looking up.
The chimney is sealed at the bottom as the fire is a woodburner and so we had to break the seals and start breaking it open. We looked up with a torch and saw a beak so we knew we were right about there being someone there. My heart leapt when Pam looked in and said she could see a white head! We managed to make a big enough hole for me to put my arm in and grab him......It was Bo!!!! Alive, well and biting me :)
He is now back in the hospital having some breakfast and acting as if nothing has happened...he is such a dope, I think he must have just overbalanced and fallen in...he is that daft, honest. I love that bird :) xxx
Welcome home Bo !!!!!!!
Three days ago, Bo went missing. He just wasn't there in the morning, whereas he usually sits on the roof until I come out and then flies into the hospital with me but there was no sign of him anywhere.
We searched everywhere for him but came to the conclusion that a sparrowhawk must have taken him. Until he went missing, I hadn't realised how much I loved him to be honest so we have been a bit sad to say the least.
This morning, my friend and next door neighbour came round and said she thought there was something down her chimney as her cat was sitting on top of the woodburner, just looking up.
The chimney is sealed at the bottom as the fire is a woodburner and so we had to break the seals and start breaking it open. We looked up with a torch and saw a beak so we knew we were right about there being someone there. My heart leapt when Pam looked in and said she could see a white head! We managed to make a big enough hole for me to put my arm in and grab him......It was Bo!!!! Alive, well and biting me :)
He is now back in the hospital having some breakfast and acting as if nothing has happened...he is such a dope, I think he must have just overbalanced and fallen in...he is that daft, honest. I love that bird :) xxx
Welcome home Bo !!!!!!!
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Still here
Newbies still coming in but more injuries than anything really...oh and baby pigeons, they keep coming until quite late on really.
We have released quite a few recently, including 4 little partridges running around the garden with the rest of the crew. Oh and we took in 10 ex battery hens on Sunday, sweet girls :)
We have released quite a few recently, including 4 little partridges running around the garden with the rest of the crew. Oh and we took in 10 ex battery hens on Sunday, sweet girls :)
Monday 17 August 2009
Rikster
Forgot to say, the Rikster is fab. he spends his days in his aviary and the pops through the window in the evening and spends his time alternating between preening and kissing us and dive bombing everything in sight.
Georgie has had to go into an outside aviary as he is extremely....shall we say.... "in breeding condition" and wants to mate with everything, humans, cats, dog...he really isn't fussy. The thing of it is though, we tried putting him with Lucy, another barnie and he doesn't know how to do it, just kept beating her up !!!!!
Georgie has had to go into an outside aviary as he is extremely....shall we say.... "in breeding condition" and wants to mate with everything, humans, cats, dog...he really isn't fussy. The thing of it is though, we tried putting him with Lucy, another barnie and he doesn't know how to do it, just kept beating her up !!!!!
Sorry Everyone
I really am sorry but we have been so busy, we honestly haven't had the time to do anything other than look after the little critters!
Year to date, we have taken in over 260 of the little blighters, lots of tiny babies and now they have slowed down, we seem to be getting a lot of injuries.
You are going to be even less pleased with me when I tell you what you have missed, we have had all sorts of things, including a Rhea, kingfisher, woodpeckers, baby seagulls, little owl, tawny owls, barn owls.....the list goes on and on.
I haven't even had time to take pics of a lot of them, start at about 7.30- 8.00 each morning and finish around 10-30 pm if we are lucky. Tea time is around 11.00 pm! No problem with obesity here, we have both lost loads of weight. The only fat people around here are the animals.
It's official, we are knackered!
We have had some volunteer help ( thanks loads to Anne, Jacki, Hannah, Chelsea and Kelly ) and we have quite a few more starting soon, looks like the numbers will go up year on year and I am not at all sure we can cope with any more than we have this year. It isn't just the hospital kids either, we have all the outside ones to care for as well and there are a fair few of them I can tell you, but all of the volunteers do a grand job.
We have also had a breakout of Ornithosis, we aren't sure which critter brought it in but we have lost several pigeons and doves to it. We have tried everything but nothing seems to work for it at all. We think we have got rid of it finally but it was a nightmare whilst it was going on, trying to keep everyone isolated from each other and all the equipment sterile.
On top of everything else, the computer that we use for streaming has gone on the wonk and neither of has had time to fiddle with it to see what is wrong.
I have had a few emails recently from you guys asking if everything is ok and it is, nothing to worry about at all, as I say, just very busy.
Loads and loads have been released so far with loads yet to go. We have had to convert all of the safety corridors so that they can double up as release pens!
We started off just taking in a few birds and we are now in the position where we seem to have a fully fledged bird sanctuary up and running....not bad to say most of it is down to our small associtaion with no money! Seriously, I am very proud of what we have all achieved in the last two years, the place is un recognisable.
We have also painted the outside of the house and stencilled it so it looks fab, we needed to get it done before winter, and EB has built a garage with owl boxes in the roof, that looks great too. Garden is looking good and just last week, some lovely people donated a ride on mower so EB has been able to cut all the long grass at the bottom of the garden.
We also managed to buy the life support cabinet we have been after, Brinsea kindly let us have it half price and I stuck it on my credit card. The next week, a lovely lady donated the cost of it to us...thank you Cynthia.
Right, back to baby feeds and meds I guess. I should be able to update a bit more as things finally seem to be slowing down a bit, we only have 18 in the hospital bit...we got up to 40 at one time, most of them being hand fed!
We have one cool dude at the moment, a stone curlew. He / she is a juvenile, part of an RSPB project to increase the numbers. It was found with an injured foot by one of the people on the project. She brought it in and we had big debates as to whether it should be euthanased as the foot had gangrene and need to be amputated. We took the decision to go ahead with the amputation and see what happened. Three weeks later, it is now putting weight on the damaged leg, the stump has healed very well and now just has a small dressing on the end to protect it. As soon as I have free space, she will go into an outside aviary to see if she can fly. If so, she will soon be ready to be released back into the wild in time for migration!
Right, catch you soon peeps,
Owl Momma xxx
Year to date, we have taken in over 260 of the little blighters, lots of tiny babies and now they have slowed down, we seem to be getting a lot of injuries.
You are going to be even less pleased with me when I tell you what you have missed, we have had all sorts of things, including a Rhea, kingfisher, woodpeckers, baby seagulls, little owl, tawny owls, barn owls.....the list goes on and on.
I haven't even had time to take pics of a lot of them, start at about 7.30- 8.00 each morning and finish around 10-30 pm if we are lucky. Tea time is around 11.00 pm! No problem with obesity here, we have both lost loads of weight. The only fat people around here are the animals.
It's official, we are knackered!
We have had some volunteer help ( thanks loads to Anne, Jacki, Hannah, Chelsea and Kelly ) and we have quite a few more starting soon, looks like the numbers will go up year on year and I am not at all sure we can cope with any more than we have this year. It isn't just the hospital kids either, we have all the outside ones to care for as well and there are a fair few of them I can tell you, but all of the volunteers do a grand job.
We have also had a breakout of Ornithosis, we aren't sure which critter brought it in but we have lost several pigeons and doves to it. We have tried everything but nothing seems to work for it at all. We think we have got rid of it finally but it was a nightmare whilst it was going on, trying to keep everyone isolated from each other and all the equipment sterile.
On top of everything else, the computer that we use for streaming has gone on the wonk and neither of has had time to fiddle with it to see what is wrong.
I have had a few emails recently from you guys asking if everything is ok and it is, nothing to worry about at all, as I say, just very busy.
Loads and loads have been released so far with loads yet to go. We have had to convert all of the safety corridors so that they can double up as release pens!
We started off just taking in a few birds and we are now in the position where we seem to have a fully fledged bird sanctuary up and running....not bad to say most of it is down to our small associtaion with no money! Seriously, I am very proud of what we have all achieved in the last two years, the place is un recognisable.
We have also painted the outside of the house and stencilled it so it looks fab, we needed to get it done before winter, and EB has built a garage with owl boxes in the roof, that looks great too. Garden is looking good and just last week, some lovely people donated a ride on mower so EB has been able to cut all the long grass at the bottom of the garden.
We also managed to buy the life support cabinet we have been after, Brinsea kindly let us have it half price and I stuck it on my credit card. The next week, a lovely lady donated the cost of it to us...thank you Cynthia.
Right, back to baby feeds and meds I guess. I should be able to update a bit more as things finally seem to be slowing down a bit, we only have 18 in the hospital bit...we got up to 40 at one time, most of them being hand fed!
We have one cool dude at the moment, a stone curlew. He / she is a juvenile, part of an RSPB project to increase the numbers. It was found with an injured foot by one of the people on the project. She brought it in and we had big debates as to whether it should be euthanased as the foot had gangrene and need to be amputated. We took the decision to go ahead with the amputation and see what happened. Three weeks later, it is now putting weight on the damaged leg, the stump has healed very well and now just has a small dressing on the end to protect it. As soon as I have free space, she will go into an outside aviary to see if she can fly. If so, she will soon be ready to be released back into the wild in time for migration!
Right, catch you soon peeps,
Owl Momma xxx
Monday 25 May 2009
Evenin all
Well, things have certainly hotted up round here! rushed off me little feets I am.
Not sure where I got to on my last post so I will just update on what we have at the moment.
Jenson has been released AGAIN, bless him, flew straight off and sat on top of the tawny owl aviary with Button :)
Licorice, Allsorts and the little one have all been released, also 3 of the Dunnocks, little one is still too small.
The two small pigeons are now outside with two collared doves and another juvenile pigeon.
We are now up to 95 so far this year, going round the hospital we have :-
2 baby crows, doing great
1 baby blackbird, got by a cat, bandaged up and on antibiotics
1 young collared dove, got by something and quite badly injured. On antibiotics and doing ok
1 baby pigeon, fell out of it's nest in our garden and ripped itself up quite badly. Bandaged up and on antibiotics
4 Ducklings, Piglet & co, all doing great, going out in a pen in the day time
3 Lapwing chicks, all doing great
Bo Peep, STILL being hand fed...gorgeous and in with her are a baby pigeon with a damaged wing, should be ok and a baby collared dove, mauled by a cat but fine now.
Ollie the Rook and Minstrel the magpie, both sharing a cage
Sandy the baby tawny owl from Sandringham, doing great and cute as they come
Two starlings, fab but still being hand fed
Four chaffinches, two sparrows and a greenfinch all sharing a big cage
Grand total as of today = 27 I think, the majority being hand fed !
Got some fab pics of Rik showering in the rain, I will post them as soon as I have downloaded them.
Sorry no pic on blog, I was moving cages around and cleaning them all day and by the time I wa sorted, it was nearly lights out time. I will see what I can rig up tomorrow, it may just be the baby crows who are adorable.
Not sure where I got to on my last post so I will just update on what we have at the moment.
Jenson has been released AGAIN, bless him, flew straight off and sat on top of the tawny owl aviary with Button :)
Licorice, Allsorts and the little one have all been released, also 3 of the Dunnocks, little one is still too small.
The two small pigeons are now outside with two collared doves and another juvenile pigeon.
We are now up to 95 so far this year, going round the hospital we have :-
2 baby crows, doing great
1 baby blackbird, got by a cat, bandaged up and on antibiotics
1 young collared dove, got by something and quite badly injured. On antibiotics and doing ok
1 baby pigeon, fell out of it's nest in our garden and ripped itself up quite badly. Bandaged up and on antibiotics
4 Ducklings, Piglet & co, all doing great, going out in a pen in the day time
3 Lapwing chicks, all doing great
Bo Peep, STILL being hand fed...gorgeous and in with her are a baby pigeon with a damaged wing, should be ok and a baby collared dove, mauled by a cat but fine now.
Ollie the Rook and Minstrel the magpie, both sharing a cage
Sandy the baby tawny owl from Sandringham, doing great and cute as they come
Two starlings, fab but still being hand fed
Four chaffinches, two sparrows and a greenfinch all sharing a big cage
Grand total as of today = 27 I think, the majority being hand fed !
Got some fab pics of Rik showering in the rain, I will post them as soon as I have downloaded them.
Sorry no pic on blog, I was moving cages around and cleaning them all day and by the time I wa sorted, it was nearly lights out time. I will see what I can rig up tomorrow, it may just be the baby crows who are adorable.
Thursday 21 May 2009
Up to 89
Today we got in three baby Lapwings found at the side of the road and a juvenile collared dove called Baz. Top shelf is now full!
Everyone in the hospital doing well, all fabulous impossible to choose a favourite. :)
Everyone in the hospital doing well, all fabulous impossible to choose a favourite. :)
Tuesday 19 May 2009
Monday 18 May 2009
Getting Busy
Up to 82 now. Sadly, the little moorhen didn't make it through the night. It seemed to have something wrong with it's throat, couldn't swallow. RIP darling xxx
Going round the room, in the brooder we have..top deck, the two tiny pigeons, both doing great now, and a young blackbird, cat cot him but seems ok. Bottom deck we have the most adorable creatures, two baby crows, baldies. If they are ok, I will put them on cam in a day or so, well funky dudes.
Then we have the two starling youngsters, also doing well. Baby pigeon which came in tonight, bigger than the other too but still a nestling. A cat bit this one too but I think she is ok.
Then we have the chaffinches, three of the sparrows went out into a cage outside today, the small sparrow and the greenfinch, all great.
Then Jenson and another young collared dove. Jenson doing great apart from the fact that he wants mummy to feed him again!
then we have the four ducklings, as you can see on the cam, they are fab. Then we have Minstrel, the baby Magpie who is the most adorable creature. Followed by Ollie the Rook, mischievous little devils and then a young pigeon, not quite weaned.
Bo Peep has two young wood pigeons for company, all great.
Think thats all today! 22 in total in the hospital
XX
Going round the room, in the brooder we have..top deck, the two tiny pigeons, both doing great now, and a young blackbird, cat cot him but seems ok. Bottom deck we have the most adorable creatures, two baby crows, baldies. If they are ok, I will put them on cam in a day or so, well funky dudes.
Then we have the two starling youngsters, also doing well. Baby pigeon which came in tonight, bigger than the other too but still a nestling. A cat bit this one too but I think she is ok.
Then we have the chaffinches, three of the sparrows went out into a cage outside today, the small sparrow and the greenfinch, all great.
Then Jenson and another young collared dove. Jenson doing great apart from the fact that he wants mummy to feed him again!
then we have the four ducklings, as you can see on the cam, they are fab. Then we have Minstrel, the baby Magpie who is the most adorable creature. Followed by Ollie the Rook, mischievous little devils and then a young pigeon, not quite weaned.
Bo Peep has two young wood pigeons for company, all great.
Think thats all today! 22 in total in the hospital
XX
Saturday 16 May 2009
More In Today
We are now up to 76 so far this year !
Today's intake was two tiny pigeons who have been bitten by a cat and left out in the cold. They have had antibiotics and are in a brooder but their food from this morning is still sitting in their crops as they got so cold they couldn't digest it so bit of a problem
Also took in a juvenile pigeon who needs to be released gradually.
Then tonight, I got a call to see if I would take a duckling which turned out to be three, all about the same size as Piglet.
Everyone else doing really well.
Today's intake was two tiny pigeons who have been bitten by a cat and left out in the cold. They have had antibiotics and are in a brooder but their food from this morning is still sitting in their crops as they got so cold they couldn't digest it so bit of a problem
Also took in a juvenile pigeon who needs to be released gradually.
Then tonight, I got a call to see if I would take a duckling which turned out to be three, all about the same size as Piglet.
Everyone else doing really well.
Friday 15 May 2009
Apologies
Big apologies everyone, I have been so busy, I have neglected the blog and the cam but we have been a bit swamped.
We are really sad to report that we lost all of the peanuts. I have no idea what we did wrong but they all just faded away one after the other which was very stressful and caring for them took up a huge amount of time.
The "bullfinches" turned out to be chaffinches, all four doing really well as are the four dunnocks and the little greenfinch.
OK so an update on everyone:-
Bumble Bee (duck) is now outside and spending some supervised time with Donald who doesn't seem to realise she is a baby and keeps wanting to play grown up games :)
Licorice, Allsorts and Littleun, the blackies went out into the release pen today and should be there for a week or so prior to release.
We have two little starlings, still nestlings, doing fine
Another baby duck, Piglet, also doing fine
Jenson (not Button after all) is still in the hospital and wanting to be treated like a baby again but is getting better each day. He can fly again now but still a bit wobbly on his feet. the others are out in the garden still, waiting for Jenson.
Another young dove in, got by a cat but doing ok.
Bo Peep doing great and has two young wood pigeons in her cage with her now.
We have a Jackdaw who has hurt his wing also.
Ollie the baby rook is a delight as is is new friend, Minstrel, a baby magpie.
Amy the pigeon has been released and went off fine
Rik is great and I got an email from Kirsty and Craig, Winston (aka Neil) 's mum and dad saying he is great, along with some pics which I will post.
Micro and Georgie fab too so all is wll. just very busy. We have taken in 70 sa far this year !
Love to all,
Owl Momma & Eagle Beard xxxx
We are really sad to report that we lost all of the peanuts. I have no idea what we did wrong but they all just faded away one after the other which was very stressful and caring for them took up a huge amount of time.
The "bullfinches" turned out to be chaffinches, all four doing really well as are the four dunnocks and the little greenfinch.
OK so an update on everyone:-
Bumble Bee (duck) is now outside and spending some supervised time with Donald who doesn't seem to realise she is a baby and keeps wanting to play grown up games :)
Licorice, Allsorts and Littleun, the blackies went out into the release pen today and should be there for a week or so prior to release.
We have two little starlings, still nestlings, doing fine
Another baby duck, Piglet, also doing fine
Jenson (not Button after all) is still in the hospital and wanting to be treated like a baby again but is getting better each day. He can fly again now but still a bit wobbly on his feet. the others are out in the garden still, waiting for Jenson.
Another young dove in, got by a cat but doing ok.
Bo Peep doing great and has two young wood pigeons in her cage with her now.
We have a Jackdaw who has hurt his wing also.
Ollie the baby rook is a delight as is is new friend, Minstrel, a baby magpie.
Amy the pigeon has been released and went off fine
Rik is great and I got an email from Kirsty and Craig, Winston (aka Neil) 's mum and dad saying he is great, along with some pics which I will post.
Micro and Georgie fab too so all is wll. just very busy. We have taken in 70 sa far this year !
Love to all,
Owl Momma & Eagle Beard xxxx
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