A City Barn Owl Is Rescued

This is a rare bird, in so many ways, making news headlines for getting stuck near some barbed wire at a popular apartment building in the CBD. Amid the planes flying in the sky, and office workers briskly walking to work, with laptop bags thrusting around their tight and tense shoulders, with a cup of joe in their spare hand, and maybe a mobile phone in another; it feels like they are ignoring the birth of something special, yet this bird needs to be rescued right now.

A healthy barn owl is struggling to speak, yet is howling for help on the 55th floor, as a set of its feet became stuck in some barbed electrical wire on the rooftop. The office workers about 60 feet below the witnessing of a rare species are oblivious to their surroundings, as well as to the cleaners and concierge inside this building, in addition to the police officers, motorists, bicycle riders, and pedestrians nearby to name. This building is a landmark treasure, no different to Harrods in London's Knightsbridge, where the rich and famous live, and something is going on, on each and every floor, whether it is a small drinks party to celebrate some deadline being met.

In the meantime, a few crows are trying to attack this beautiful barn own as day turns into night. A few bright magpies instead shoo the crows away, and are determined to protect this barn owl. A couple of the magpies fly to the side streets, picking up some scraps of food to feed the barn owl, as its right foot is stuck on this barbed wire.

A new day dawns, and three of the magpies return to help the barn owl, by encouraging it to take the food that is sticking out by the magpies beaks, while these birds manage to stay afloat in the air once more, acutely aware of some electrical wiring a few short metres below them, without any nest.

Nicole is the building manager. She noticed that something was not right with the electrical settings for the common areas, when checking the control box that morning, as part of her daily lot check. Nicole then heads through the emergency exit, and notices this barn owl howling in pain. Immediately, Nicole is on the phone to the local animal welfare league to explain that a rare barn owl (normally not found in a busy CBD area) flew in at some point, and got its right foot stuck on some electrical wiring. The inspectors came to help, and the barn owl needed immediate surgery, of which took place in a mobile veterinary van that they were driving around when they received this urgent call out from Nicole. Firefighters also came to the scene, to assist in rescuing the bird, and in checking the wires still function. Nearly all of the occupants were oblivious to what was happening.

Photos of this beautiful bird were taken during the rescue operation, and the news went viral before the mainstream press showed up to the party. This barn owl was grateful to be rescued, and was not keen on any other prey like mice at the time, due to almost being prey by a few crows, if it was not for the magpies protection.

As the welfare league had a rather full intake, Nicole decided to set up a Go Fund Me page to raise some funds to go towards this welfare league, and so they can take care of the bird, until it is safe to be either adopted, or released back to where it came from. These funds were also intended to go towards wildlife conservation projects for them as well. The social media posts raised awareness of this particular welfare league, as well as giving the relevant apartment building more publicity. Rental and ownership applications to live in the home of the rescued barn owl came through thick and fast, and Nicole was also offered a pay rise from her boss, together with a day off each week on paid volunteer leave to look after this barn owl, and other wonderful birds at the local animal welfare league. As part of this work, Nicole has added more posts to social media on the progress and full recovery of this barn owl, both during the day, and while this bird is at its element at night. This content on a larger scale is also shared with those individuals who made donations on the Go Fund Me page. Soaring high.

Nicole is thankful for her pay raise, yet she was proud to have rescued this bird, and to save the building from any damage. All of the advertising revenue that Nicole makes from the social media posts about the same barn owls life post-recovery is donated back to the local animal welfare league, so that they can rescue more animals in need, and that way more barn owls and animals can be saved from such incidents, and without the extra inconvenience of being attacked by prey. Ode to the lovely barn own, and to Nicole, as well as to the inspectors at the local animal welfare league, and to the firefighters who assisted in the rescue. Gratitude also to the people that made donations towards the barn owls recovery, as well as to the magpies that fed and protected this barn owl in the CBD.