Volunteers helped this tiny baby owl make an incredible recovery.
Volunteers at the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, rescued Ollie when she was just a few hours old. They named her after Oliver Twist, as she was a tiny orphan always craving some more food.
As per Daily Mail, Ollie was the youngest and smallest owlet volunteers had ever cared for.
Only eight weeks later, the owl’s adult feathers grew, and she was ready to go to one of the hospital’s outdoor flight enclosures. When she was 11 weeks old, Ollie was finally prepared to spread her wings and return to the wild.
Ollie, as well as another barn owl named Percy, was driven to one of the hospital’s “soft” release sites. There, the volunteers set up a nest box to monitor the birds closely.
According to a spokesperson for the charity, the experience to witness all their hard work pay off and the birds settling into life in the wild was immensely satisfying. He explained:
“Ollie was the smallest baby barn owl we had ever seen. She was completely bald and clearly needed our help. Baby birds this young are incredibly difficult to hand rear. After two days in our bird nursery she took a downhill turn, she was really weak and we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. The next day though we were really relieved to see her much brighter.
We decided to name the barn owl Ollie after Oliver Twist, as she was an orphan and quite greedy – always asking for more.
We really loved watching her grow up and can’t believe the transformation. We really miss her but know she is enjoying her life out in the wild where she belongs.”
