What a twit-twoo! Baby barn owl saved by Northumberland vets after falling from nest

The owlet was taken to Galedin Vets by volunteers from Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust after breaking his leg when he fell out of the nest.

Vet Emily Reeves carried out delicate surgery on the young bird, inserting a pin to straighten the tiny bone in a life-saving operation, taking half an hour.

August, who was also looked after by veterinary nurse Mel Herdman, is now recovering at the trust and will be released back into the wild when he is old enough.

He is one of hundreds of injured or sick birds and wildlife, including hedgehogs, swans, buzzards and other birds of prey, taken to Galedin’s surgery at Ramparts Business Park in Berwick.

Emily said: “We see a lot of wild animals and birds as we’re quite a rural practice, and we work a lot with Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust.

"Most of our caseload from them is swans and hedgehogs so it is a little more unusual to treat an owl, especially one so young.

"It was quite a nerve-wracking experience operating on such a fragile creature.

“He was a pleasure to treat throughout. He absolutely loved our nurse Mel but was not so keen on me! It has been lovely and very rewarding to see him lose all his baby feathers and turn into a such a beautiful owl.”

Mel said: “Operating was quite a risk with a bird, especially a young one, and he had to have a gaseous anaesthetic and pain killers by injection.

“It is challenging working with wildlife as none of them are friendly and we have to be realistic that we need to release them back to the wild in the end.”

Pat Goff, secretary of the trust, said without the surgery August would not have survived.

“The vets at Galedin did a brilliant job,” she said. “The owl was very young and its leg was badly broken. Without the surgery it would never have been able to fly properly or hunt, so it most certainly would have died.

“It’s lovely success story, especially as we have so few barn owls these days, we really need to look after them.”

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