« July 2008 | Main | October 2008 »
August 28, 2008
Visit from a Barred Owl
I received a call yesterday @ 10:30am from David Grieser, the garden supervisor, that a barred owl was hanging out near the moon gate in the Asian Garden.
Heading over there with camera in tow, I took a few photographs before heading back and reporting to the fine folks at the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) that we might have an injured owl in the garden. The drooping right wing and some aberrant behaviour (allowing people to approach it and occasionally sitting on the ground) hinted to me that something wasn't quite right.
The animal care people at OWL suggested that it might have a bruised or broken wing:
If bruised, I was told it should recover eventually. In the meantime, staff are keeping an eye out for the owl to help ensure it is perched in trees, etc.
If the wing is broken, I was told that the owl will eventually weaken to the point where it can be captured and sent for care and rehab. It will be found on the ground and unable to fly to a perch.
So, the staff are keeping an eye out for the owl now (it went into hiding as of late yesterday afternoon). If you're visiting the garden and you spot it on the ground or appearing to be in some difficulty, do inform a staff member, so one of us can investigate and call OWL if the owl is in need of care. Thank you!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 10:55 AM
XML Feeds: Atom | RSS 2.0 | RSS 1.0 | What is RSS? | RSS Tools
UBC Botanical Garden Blog is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at The University of British Columbia.