Celebrating the Seasons by Amanda Owen

Author:Amanda Owen [Owen, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Macmillan

A curlew chick.

After four weeks, the original four eggs began to crack, and little brown-and-yellow bundles of fluff emerged, their distinctive beaks already clearly indicating their species. We watched via the camera, in awe.

Inevitably the fifth egg was still lying there, unmoving, not as far down the line in development as the others. But the adult curlews were now busy with their new chicks.

‘What do we do?’ I said to Clive, wanting the poor abandoned chick to have a chance of hatching.

‘Bring it back and put it under one of the chickens?’ he suggested.

A great idea! So off I went, keen to help, but already wondering about how I’d feed it. The hen’s mash wouldn’t be suitable; somehow I’d need to find a way to catch live insects.

As it happened, the egg remained cold and lifeless, despite the broody hen’s best efforts. In reality it was probably a blessing. Having a hand-reared curlew to care for might have been a step too far, even for me.

The children were fascinated by the new curlew family, although the birds’ endangered status didn’t sway them – in their world the curlew was a common visitor, and all wildlife at Ravenseat holds the same allure. They are forever returning to the farmhouse with an animal under one arm, or a bird held out like a prize find, although I try to encourage them to leave the animals out in nature and just enjoy watching, unless absolutely necessary. While I appreciate their desire to do right by the creature, we already have enough animals to take care of each day.

My heart sinks when they turn up with a bird, a broken wing hanging limply from its frail body, as, truth be told, there is no hope for recovery. Birds are notoriously bad patients, often succumbing to stress long before the injury takes its toll.

We did successfully help to feed an owlet that we found beside the manger in the stable. There comes a point when young owls leave the nest, though they stay in relatively close proximity, their inability to fly properly preventing them from going too far away. At this stage, known as ‘branching’, they are still fed by the parents and are vocal, issuing unusual begging calls during the early evenings. This owlet, a tawny, was thin and in poor condition, so after consultation with our vet we began a nightly regime of top-up feeds – diced-up raw chicken and a glucose drink given via syringe. The owlet, wrapped in a tea towel, would swallow heartily; then we would carefully replace him in the stable, assuming that he was still being tended by his parents but that for some reason he was not thriving as he should. After a week, he disappeared. You never really know what happens in these cases; you just do your best and hope that your efforts were not in vain.

Feeding the barn owl.

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