Eco Hvar

Precious Birds: Saving Owls

The Scops Owl is a welcome visitor to Hvar Island every summer. Arriving between the middle of March or beginning of April its persistent single-note call is the hallmark of the warm season. 

Floof ready to fly... Floof ready to fly... Photo: Norman Woollons

Nature lovers on Hvar often go the extra mile to help creatures in need. In June 2024, when donkey saviour Jana Appleyard was told that a baby bird had fallen from its nest near one of the churches in Dol, she immediately went to the rescue. The tiny bundle of feathers was difficult to identify with certainty, but she suspected it was a Scops Owl, and this later proved to be true. Looking after such a frail, helpless little waif was sure to be challenging, with no guarantee that its life could be saved, but Jana rose to the occasion without hesitation.

Baby Floof, June 2024. Photo: Norman Woollons

The feathery bundle was given the name of Floof, and fed a baby diet of mice, ordered from the mainland and diced into tiny pieces for Floof's little beak. Jana's selfless diligent efforts were supported by Norman, also resident in Dol, who did some thorough research into Scops Owls and their needs, and reported on the baby and ts progress in his widely read blog 'Life in a Dol House'.

Baby Floof, happy in the hand. Photo: Norman Woollons

Floof thrived and quickly started to grow. This made it easier to identify the previously anonymous fluffy bundle of feathers with certainty as a Scops Owl. However, she or he? This question could not be solved, as it would require analysis of the bird's feathers - mission impossible on the island.

Floof, 6th July 2024. Photo: Norman Woollons

The experience of watching baby Floof grow and develop led Norman to the idea that it was the perfect opportunity to ring him/her in order to track his/her future movements, as Scops Owl migrations have not been fully investigated to date. However, organising the ring proved impossible, as the major bird  conservation organisations are based in northern Croatia, too far away to coordinate a ringing mission in mid-summer just for one little bird.

Floof, July 6th 2024. Photo: Norman Woollons

 By July 13th Floof was progressing extremely satisfactorily:

Floof growing up. Photo: Norman Woollons

 No longer a little waif fitting into the palm of a hand!

Measuring up. Photo: Norman Woollons

Although Floof was obviously comfortable being handled and living in human company, the instinct to explore the great world beyond and live a bird's life was obviously growing apace alongside Floof's physical development. Before the end of July 2024, Floof was ready to leave, after only a short apprenticeship experimenting with the art of flying. Having flown to freedom without hindrance, Floof came back to base for a 'flying visit', as if to say 'thanks for everything' and then disappeared off into the distance.

Floof, last picture before flying away. Photo: Norman Woollons

As Norman poignantly put it in his blog dated 13th July 2024: "Human summer visitors to the Mediterranean basin will have heard the almost electronic sounding calls of the Scops. However few will have seen one and fewer still will have had the privilege that I have had of having one like Floof on my hand. I have definitely been Floofed!" Looking back over her relationship with Floof, Jana movingly expressed the fondest emotions: "Ah, dear Floof! It all seems like a dream now! He used to come and have a nap with me and cuddle up. So sweet- I hope I see him again, it was such an amazing experience. Even getting up for his 3am feeds!"

It is also true that even at a remove, this exceptionally lovable bird captured the hearts of everyone who followed the story..

Floof's progress was recorded in some charming videos, courtesy of Hvar Digital / Norman Woollons:
 
The care shown by Jana and Norman was rewarded with success which was enjoyed by the numerous well-wishers who followed Floof's story. Many people on Hvar, native islanders and incomers alike, care about the island's birds and wildlife and are concerned about the species losses which are becoming more evident year on year. Tragically, there are people on the island who have no respect or understanding for the island's natural riches. One example is the long-standing tradition of trapping song-birds during their autumn migration, in order to keep them for the rest of their miserable lives in tiny cages, singing their hearts out mourning for their lost freedom. The practice of trapping wildlife was outlawed some years ago, but some islanders still do it. One Saturday afternoon in November 2023,  tourists walking in the hills came across a little bird caught in a trap 
Caught in an illegal trap. Photo: private album
The helpless victim has been identified by experts as a Long-Eared Owl. One wing was injured, probably in its struggles to break free. The tourists contacted the police in Split, knowing that such a trap contravened European laws for the protection of wildlife. They also freed the bird. The Split police informed their colleagues on Hvar, who immediately went with the local vet to rescue the bird and remove the trap. Eco Hvar was told that the bird survived, but no further details of its fate were forthcoming.
Scops Owl, Dol 2017. Photo: Steve Jones
We are glad that more and more people are demonstrating love and care for the environment with its flora and fauna. Visiting and resident bird lovers follow the activities of the island's birds as a measure of the health of the island. When the Scops Owl departs as autumn looms, the haunting lower-pitched call of the Eagle Owl is one of the rare bird sounds breaking the silence of the night. We hope that Floof will be among the returnees next spring, maybe even visiting the kind friends who saved his/her life in Dol!
Scops Owl, Dol, 2017. Photo: Steve Jones
Note: we are grateful to Jana Appleyard and Norman Woollons for saving Floof, and to Steve Jones for helping to identify the bird caught in the illegal trap.
 
  © Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon) 2024
na vrh članka
Nalazite se ovdje: Home Novosti iz prirode Precious Birds: Saving Owls

Novosti: Ekologija.hr

  • Warming UK seas could ‘fundamentally reshape marine ecosystems’ – report

    Four-year study warns destabilised marine food webs could jeopardise food security by 2050

    Warming seas around the UK and the wider north-east Atlantic could destabilise marine food webs, weaken ocean health and jeopardise food security by 2050, according to a four-year study.

    Scientists who projected the impact of climate breakdown on four key groups of marine life crucial to maintaining ocean ecosystems in the region said their results challenged assumptions that in middle latitudes, such as the UK, marine biodiversity was likely to increase across the board.

    Continue reading...

  • South West Water’s failure to fix leaks ‘putting customer supplies at risk’

    With parts of region served by company in severe drought still, regulators give it six weeks to come up with action plan

    Repeated failures by South West Water to tackle leaks are putting customers at higher risks of losing water supplies as parts of the region remain in severe drought, regulators have said.

    In a warning to the privatised company that serves 1.8 million people across the south-west of England, the regulators said it had been failing to meet targets to reduce leaks and repair burst pipes for seven years.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘No one cares about the little guy’: Sri Lanka’s fishers still reeling from 2021 toxic plastic spill

    A stricken container ship shed tonnes of tiny pellets called nurdles on the west coast. Five years on, locals are counting the cost to marine life and livelihoods

    On the beach in Pamunugama, on Sri Lanka’s west coast, women in uniform work under the scorching sun. They sift through rubbish washed ashore, searching among the usual litter for something much smaller: tiny plastic pellets.

    Five years ago, in May 2021, this same beach was swamped with pellets as smoke rose over the Indian Ocean.

    Continue reading...

  • World’s wettest rainstorms are getting wetter, affecting flood and drought risk

    Events that deliver about half of global rainfall are getting shorter but more intense, with wide-ranging implications

    The world’s wettest rainstorms produce about half of the global annual rainfall. Now a study shows that these intense downpours have become shorter in duration and fewer in number, compressing the same amount of rain into quicker and more extreme events, with implications for flood and drought risk.

    Chiyuan Miao and colleagues from Beijing Normal University in China analysed daily measurements between 1980 and 2022 from more than 19,000 rain gauges around the world. They found that an average of about half of the world’s rainfall fell during about nine multi-day storms, delivered over a cumulative time of about 28 days.

    Continue reading...

  • Lab-grown meat was supposed to save the world. What happened?

    We were promised a panacea for the climate crisis and a way to save our food system. So why is nobody firing up the chicken vats? I went to find out

    On 5 August 2013, a man and a woman ate a burger. Not just any burger: a world-historic burger, made from cattle cells grown in a laboratory by Mark Post, a professor of vascular physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The burger had taken two years to produce and cost €250,000 (about £210,000 at the time), money furnished by the Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Now it was being tasted in public for the first time at Riverside Studios in London, at an event attended by 200 members of the press and livestreamed to thousands.

    To make this particular burger, Post had extracted stem cells from the shoulder muscle of a living cow, then cultivated them in plastic containers filled with a nutrient-rich supplement called foetal bovine serum, which is derived from cow foetuses. The cells eventually became 20,000 strands of tissue, which in turn became a single 140g patty. Post believed that beef produced this way had the potential to dramatically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and slow the climate crisis. Raising cattle for consumption requires massive amounts of land and water – and massive amounts of feed grown at a high environmental cost. He projected that global demand for meat would soon outstrip our ability to produce it the old-fashioned way, at which point our food systems would become unsustainable. But that didn’t have to mean a mass recalibration of our consumption habits or a global shift away from red meat. Post and his team had found another way.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: The autumn glory of a tulip tree | Jennifer Jones

    Liverpool: Their summer flowers provide the name and the fame, but this species is arguably at its best now

    Beech mast crunches underfoot, and the occasional conker catches the sunlight, tiny beacons leading me to Camp Hill, south Liverpool, with its distant views over the Mersey estuary. Goldfinches erupt from desiccated knapweed, and a flock of pink-footed geese fly overhead. For once, the birds are not my goal, but a tree: the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

    Every autumn, the Camp Hill tulip tree flaunts its flamboyant presence: the Lady Gaga of the parkland. Named because its flowers resemble a tulip flower, and its leaves a tulip silhouette, few can resist its tulle lace canopy of butter-gold leaves. The luminescence is enhanced by the sheen of its leaf cuticles, and the fissured trunk adds yet more sensory impact. Yet this year there is a strangeness: instead of the golden monotone you would expect of this moment, there is a messy mix of different shades. Might the summer drought have disrupted the pigment battle between anthocyanins and carotenoids?

    Continue reading...

  • Firework noise limit should be drastically cut to protect wild animals, UK government told

    Ministers urged to go further than proposed cut to 110 decibels to ease acute stress on birds and other animals

    Campaigners are calling on the UK government to protect the welfare of wild animals by cutting the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public from 120 to 90 decibels.

    The Center for Wild Animal Welfare (CWAW) has said lowering the limit to 90dB – which is about one-eighth of the loudness of 120dB – would help to protect millions of wild animals from acute stress by reducing the area over which a firework disturbs surrounding wildlife.

    Continue reading...

  • From the archive: The trials of Robert Habeck: is the world’s most powerful green politician doomed to fail? – podcast

    We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors

    This week, from 2023: A year ago, Germany’s vice-chancellor was one of the country’s best-liked public figures. Then came the tabloid-driven backlash. Now he has to win the argument all over again

    By Philip Oltermann. Read by Sam Peter Jackson

    Read the text version here

    Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Music is the most powerful way of connecting to what’s happening’: can this album change your mind about the climate crisis?

    With globe-spanning artists – including Charlotte Church doing angry electropop – the Flow project is hoping to make an impact at this month’s Cop31

    Amid tense and long-winded negotiations, and with the future of the planet at stake, emotions can often run high at Cop climate summits. But last year, when the annual conference arrived in Brazil, one UN official was unexpectedly moved to tears by five women singing about the power of water.

    “She gave me a massive hug after the event and said, ‘We need to bring music into Cop,’” says Nikita Llerena, the project manager for Flow, a music collective that’s hoping to bring art to the centre of the climate movement. What started as a handful of musicians meeting over Zoom last year has grown into a full-length album that unites female artists from around the world, including Charlotte Church, Maxine Peake and Nadine Shah. This month, members of the collective will return for Cop31, in Turkey, where they have been promoted to a slot at Global Cultural Action’s opening event.

    Continue reading...

  • North America’s most widely distributed game bird is under threat

    For the first time since 1937, no open permits to hunt ruffed grouse in Ohio have been issued due to falling numbers

    Every November, hundreds of hunters descend on four designated wilderness areas in southern Ohio in pursuit of the elusive ruffed grouse.

    But not this year.

    Continue reading...

Novosti: Cybermed.hr

Novosti: Biologija.com

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. Sva prava zadržana. Developed by Orion Informatika.