Ollie

JollyKernow
JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
1000 Comments
edited July 2023 in Congratulations, Good Wishes & Kind Thoughts #1

Afternoon

Anyone who has been to the club's Grafham Water Site in Cambs will have seen the wonderful great American horned owl called Ollie. We did some work there a couple of years ago and got to feed it it's daily chicken leg on the birdtable outside reception watching it feed less than 2 meters away. Sadly Ollie has succumbed to avian flu. It turns out Ollie was a she and 23 years old but was a fantastic specimen and a sight to behold.

JK

Comments

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,134 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #2

    What a shame.

    I heard her but never saw her.

  • TimboC
    TimboC Club Member Posts: 422 ✭
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    edited July 2023 #3

    Not great photos, but we saw her there in May 2021. Such a beautiful bird, and with a fine pair of lungs!

    She'll be missed

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
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    edited July 2023 #4

    I have quite a lot of video of her feeding at close range and also sitting early evening on the bridge over the pond on site. Pity I can't share here.

    JK

  • Wherenext
    Wherenext Club Member Posts: 10,586 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #5

    Thanks for letting us know JK. 

    A sad sign of the times.

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,030 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #6

    Thank you for sharing JK. So very sad.

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383 ✭
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    edited July 2023 #7

    Stayed there many years ago but didn't know there was a resident owl. (possibly longer than 23 years ago)  Bird flu has decimated some colonies of birds. Sad to read it has claimed such a fine bird.

    peedee

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #8

    Sad indeed, I did get to see Ollie when there about 6 years back.

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,030 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #9

    There are some beautiful photographs, and some video footage of Ollie online. Haven’t copied any as didn’t want to fall foul of anyone’s copyright. Apparently he was named Ollie after Oliver Cromwell, whose family had land nearby. Such a beautiful bird. My aunt helped raise rescued owls, she would have loved Ollie🙂

  • RedKite
    RedKite Club Member Posts: 1,717 ✭✭
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    edited July 2023 #10

    We have also seen Ollie many years ago and landed on a motorhome parked next to us but did not gt any photos, so sad to hear the news.

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