Territorial nester and farmer’s friend. Admired and feared? Seldom seen and often heard! Surrounded in mystery. That’s a Wise Owl for you! 

Britain’s owls are mainly nocturnal while others are crepuscular - appearing at dawn and dusk – or daytime hunters. Equipped with a lovely soft-as-silk plumage, and adept talons, unblinking, forward-facing eyes and exceptionally acute hearing, these silent fliers are noted for their stealth and grace. But, while seldom spotted in the wild, their hoots, hisses, screeches or screams are often heard.  

What makes owls so difficult to spot is their exceptional camouflage. So, on learning of a unique owl sanctuary located in the New Forest, where 400 to 500 magnificent owls from 62 countries are accommodated, I was keen to visit them as soon as possible.  

I learnt that seventy per cent of these owls have been injured in some form or another with most used in breeding and release, or educational, programmes. Officially opened in 1991 by popular BBC Television personality, Sally Taylor, the sanctuary currently houses the largest collection of owls in Europe - and probably the world. 

“Admittedly, on a summer’s evening, it is hard to compete with seeing a beautiful barn owl in the wild, quartering a grass field in search of food for his chicks,” said Tim Gallaway from RSPB’s Pulborough Brooks Reserve.  

I agreed. But just being able to observe many varieties of owl up close and to watch some of them participate in flying displays would be special and unforgettable!  

Setting off from Worthing, I drove by car, heading towards Southampton and the A31. It was an easy drive and the sanctuary’s location well signposted once you have reached the A31. Not far from Bournemouth and Southampton, the sanctuary is five minutes away from the market town of Ringwood and is an ideal choice for a family outing. 

One of the main reasons for my visit on this wintry morning in December (2002) was to see one of the sanctuary’s most exciting new arrivals. A very rare, brown-coloured, black-footed Barn Owl, recently born there, called Sooty.  

Normally, Barn Owls found in Britain have unmistakeable white, heart–shaped faces, dark eyes and white under-parts. While this description aptly fitted Sooty’s sister, Sweep, Sooty’s rare genetic condition – melanism - made it necessary to remove him from his mother’s care after those critical first four days for fear she would neglect him. His different appearance meant there was an excellent possibility of his being shunned by both his siblings and other owls of his species. 

While Albinism exists in humans as well as animals and birds, melanism in owls is very rare. According to New Forest Owl Sanctuary founder, Bruce Berry, he had not heard of a recorded case of melanism in an owl in 100 years, and did not know of any occurring in Britain.  

Sooty was currently being hand-reared by the centre’s falconers and after a month had been reunited with his sister again. However, I saw that he had been spending time on his own in the safety of the Hopitowl (Hospital for sick owls). He would get more independent as time went on. 

He looked such a happy little owl and much stronger than his sister. Another danger for him is predators. They will recognise that he is a different owl, and consider him  an easy catch, and possibly less fit. 

Sooty’s plight got me thinking of a beautiful pure white raven called Albi that I had seen in an “aviary with a view” at Mary’s Point off the Bay of Fundy, in New Brunswick. He was fortunate indeed to be looked after by a well known Canadian bird lover in the grounds of her home. He, too, would never have survived on his own. 

Sooty won’t be used for breeding, I discovered, but he’ll be a great participant in the regular flying displays and educational shows. There are 32 owls that are being used in flying displays for the public that visit. 

Bruce told me how his sanctuary started off as a rescue and breeding centre for endangered barn owls, on a converted old piggery site. There were four aviaries initially, sponsored by public donations. He mentioned, too, that he was the first Brit in 1988 to receive a grant for the rescue of endangered Barn Owls in this country.  

His interest in animals and birds began at an early age when mongoose and monkeys were among his favourite pets. But, most of his working life was spent in the hospitality industry including 18 years as a London publican prior to his move to the New Forest to manage a Country Club. And it was after he took early retirement that he was able to work for his true love – wildlife.  

Currently, his wide range of aviaries and enclosures on the property are continually being upgraded and modernised by his two sons, Peter and Steve. Over the years, they have rented the land which was never set out to be a sanctuary, and has now reached its full capacity. 

Ideally, he explained, our ultimate aim is to find a suitable site to house much larger aviaries so that many more people who can no longer look after their owls will be able to bring them to us.  

Several existing aviaries have running water (not for drinking) with baths provided for all birds. Unlike garden birds, owls don’t need to drink much water as they obtain sufficient quantities from their diet. Some of their owls are captive-bred or donated to them by private collectors.  

The sanctuary’s team maintains vehicles, aviaries, electrics, plumbing, cares for, cleans and feeds the wide range of birds of prey and owls, and ensures the sanctuary runs smoothly.  

Apart from the owls, visitors can also enjoy watching Bruce’s two resident Asian short-clawed otters, Lennox and Lewis. Abandoned by their mother, they have established themselves as the sanctuary’s terrible twins! 

Chris Parkinson, one of the senior falconers, showed me around the complex.

Our tour of this amazing centre began outside Moosie’s enclosure. Moosie is a very likeable European Eagle Owl, weighing a mere 4 ½ lbs. He was very eager to answer me when I called his name, with a signature WHOO-HU hoot! He just loves to sit on his perch in the rain, be handled daily by his falconers and taken out to school educational shows. 

As the sanctuary’s mascot, he appears on their logo, which is featured on all vehicles and advertising material, including a large bus which has been specially designed for conveying a plethora of owls in their boxes to educational events. 

Sadly, Moosie is an imprint. This means he thinks he’s a human - not an owl – making it difficult for him to relate to, and mate with, a female partner. His magnificent orange-coloured eyes are confirmation that he’s a daytime hunter. Owls with yellow-coloured eyes are crepuscular, hunting when food is available, usually at dusk and dawn while the nocturnal owls have dark eyes. 

Being a “static” bird of prey, Moosie is content to sit on a perch or a definitive Falconer’s hand-glove made from deer hide – not cheap at £50 – and to participate in shows. In fact, Bruce and his owls are becoming famous, having been photographed with celebrities and filmed on numerous occasions. 

The Birds of Prey and Owls at the New Forest Sanctuary are well fed on a diet of raw day-old chicks, which they swallow whole along with fur and feathers to aid digestion. Later, the indigestible parts are regurgitated in the form of pellets. Mice, rats and voles are among their favourite foods, as well. 

Meet a few Residents

Not a great deal is known about their rare, nocturnal Rufous Legged Owl, which is found in dense and moist forests, and belongs to the wood owl family - the British Tawny Owl is a member, too - feeding on small rodents, birds and reptiles.

As for their Screech Owls from Costa Rica and South America, they have a preference for moths, grasshoppers, beetles and cockroaches, when available. 

A Harris Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk looked really pleased to be sharing an enclosure together. And, it was fascinating to view one of the world’s smallest owls, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, from Central and South America. It had cryptic plumage patterns and markings at the back of its head that looked remarkably like eyes. Partly diurnal – at dusk and dawn – this owl thrives in evergreen forests, nests in holes of trees, mud nests or burrows in banks to lay its 3-5 eggs. 

The gorgeous Savigny’s Eagle Owl, also known as the Pharaoh Eagle Owl, chooses to reside in rocky deserts, semi-deserts and dry, rocky mountains of countries such as Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, the Sahara and Sudan. Mature at two years, it has a lifespan of 15-20 years.  

Whereas, the male species is usually the most attractive in the bird world, it was interesting to discover that female owls are a third larger than their male counterparts! 

My favourites at the sanctuary were the magical Snowy Owls and beautiful Spectacled Owls. Apparently, the latter are endangered in some areas of the world and a delight to watch. The parents were positioned in a tree next to each other while their seven-month old owlet was perched on one foot on a higher branch, changing to his other foot on occasion, as well as bobbing and weaving to get a better view of me! I gathered that owls don’t see very well when you are close to them, but have incredibly good long distance vision. 

Their double enclosure was filled with trees with branches and lush vegetation.

His parents made several clicking noises but appeared much more relaxed once I had stepped further back from the netting. While more used to a dense rainforest in a tropical or sub-tropical climate, like other sanctuary residents they seemed quite at home in this abode. 

The fluffy, juvenile Spectacled Owl looked so cute and had a creamy-beige coloured chest and brown head, around the top of which was a ring of soft white feathers. His unblinking orange eyes with large black pupils, gazed down into mine. Before long, this dear little owl was scheduled to return to his country of origin where crabs, spiders and other smaller mammals were part of his food supply. 

“Perch and Pounce” Birds

“Eagle Owls are mainly “perch and pounce” birds”, Chris pointed out, as we admired an alert, majestic Bengal Eagle Owl on his perch.”  Evidently this species of owl, which comes from India, swoops down effortlessly to snare unsuspecting prey. 

In the next aviary, we saw the world’s largest species of eagle owl -  the Siberian Eagle Owl. It is only one year old and already has a 6-foot wing span. No problem for him to catch a fully-grown deer!  Equally impressive was the Great Horned Owl - the world’s most powerful owl and indirectly the cause of many human fatalities.  

In one incident, three researchers were spotted and harassed by this owl species resulting in their falling out of a tree where they were observing a nest. Initially they sustained injuries, but subsequently died from them.    

One of the prettiest owls, I thought, was the powerful Milky Eagle Owl, from south of the Sahara. At first glance, I could have sworn his eyes had been enhanced by eye make-up! 

The Great Grey Owl is noted for its very large facial disc, and is renowned for having the best hearing of all the owl species. 

A newcomer arrived during my visit. It was a four-year old male Eagle Owl. His owner had donated him to the sanctuary and for the first week, he’d be assessed and therefore kept in isolation. After that, he would be moved in with other birds of the same species. According to Steve Berry, he’ll happily exist in a group as long as there is adequate food. 

Everyone thought the sanctuary’s site would be very quiet, away from all the houses. Interestingly, there’s no dawn chorus in the mornings but there is certainly an all- night rendering! 

Don’t expect a dawn chorus here. Just an all night one! 

Mating

Questioned about owls choosing a mate, Bruce said: “All birds of prey, and owls, instinctively mate with their own species, with the help of an ultraviolet pattern in their plumage which corresponds with the pattern of their own. Nature provides an instinctive warning colourisation if it is there own offspring – like DNA” he explained. 

“What are your future plans? I asked. 

 “My dream is to one day hand over control of the sanctuary to my two sons. And then to get some premises where I can bring bears over here who have been abused in Asia, and give them quality of life.  Somewhere in the south of England.” 

 Barn owls in the wild

It was interesting to have a chat with RSPB’s Tim Callaway about owls in the wild and to discover that the Barn Owl population had been declining since the 19^th century - more so in the last 30 years - by some 50 per cent. 

A Barn Owls choice of habitat is rough grassland but they don’t nest unless there’s plenty of voles close by, Tim advised. And owl boxes can provide essential roosting places as well as nest sites for them. 

” Flooding and Barn Owls don’t mix. And when extreme flooding occurs, they can’t hunt for the food they need such as rodents and short-tailed field voles. Their prey is swallowed whole and the indigestible parts such as fur, bones, skulls, teeth and feathers are regurgitated in smooth, blackish pellets, near their nesting and roosting sites.”  

“Any bones and skulls that are swallowed are not broken down by their digestive juices, making it easier to identify exactly what they’ve eaten,” he added: ‘Their favourite foods on our complex of reserves from Pulborough to Amberley – a major wetland of international importance - include short-tailed voles, wood mice, common and water shrew, and harvest mice. Due to barn owls remarkably acute hearing, they can find and catch their prey by sound alone.” 

“Kestrels regularly rob barn owls of food. So, if a barn owl doesn’t manage to get enough for its young at night, it will feed at dusk or dawn or during the day, as well.  

“Scottish-breeding barn owls are the northern extreme of the global population,” he pointed out. Barn owls can live for 5-10 years in the wild with the oldest record in Europe being 21. Two broods may be reared, especially in warm weather or mid-summer, when three to seven eggs are laid.”  Tim has encountered broods of five.

“Mid December,” he told me,” a pair of barn owls were still feeding their young at the Reserve, and were just about to fledge. Most nests are in tree holes. “Heat can be a problem for the chicks while long periods of cold wet weather stops them hunting. Chicks just don’t cope in the rain”.  

Çommenting on the tragic decline of barn owls due to loss of hay fields and rough grassland, so attractive to smaller mammals, he said that barn owls needed to consume 4 to 5 voles a day. Mixed farming and rough grasslands offered the best opportunities for a pair of owls who required 20-25 km of “edge””.  Edges of fields, watercourses and grass strips alongside woods are deemed the most desirable hunting habitat for one pair. 

How can we help Barn Owls? 

·                    Be aware of their decline.

·                    Protect nesting pairs from any disturbance. Nest boxes can encourage pairs to set up home.                                                     

Landowners can delay cutting hay fields and put up nest boxes to replace lost hunting habitat.           

Says Tim, “ As an organisation, the RSPB are trying to ensure that the wider public and landowners are aware of the decline of barn owls and the reasons for it. 

“ We’ve had a lot of large trees, including elms, which provided suitable nesting holes. Barn conversions can destroy nest sites. However, landowners can support our efforts by putting up nest sites in modern barn conversions and nest boxes in newer agricultural barns.   

“ Landowners frequently ask us for advice about helping barn owls, and erecting owl boxes. The RSPB has published a very useful (free) brochure Nest boxes for Large Birds which includes advice on how to build a nest box for Little owls, Tawny Owls and Barn Owls.  

“Barn Owls are specially protected by law and occupied nests and boxes should not be visited without a licence. As owls are territorial nesters, boxes should not be placed close together. 

What better time than now to pay Sooty and his amazing home - The New Forest Owl Sanctuary – a visit. To learn more about the world of owls, and especially the Barn Owl who has been called The Farmer’s Friend. 

The New Forest Owl Sanctuary, Crow Lane, Crow, Ringwood. Hampshire.BH24 1EA  Tel. (01425) 476487) Fax. (01425) 461222.