3 weeks Ago
An owl which was rescued after being hit by a van has been released. Claire Jones, from Seaford, was driving down the A26, after returning home from a holiday to Egypt. As a high rise van approached, she noticed a "flash of light" and saw that an animal had been hit.
As she got closer, she realised it was a majestic barn owl. READ MORE: Decision due on "eyesore" football club storage plans at recreation ground "We turned around and stopped. The road was busy but we got out and I saw the barn owl lying in the road with its wing out.
I scooped it up into my lovely pashmina. "Back at home, I put it in a box and slept on the sofa to keep an eye on it. "It was funny because we had just returned from Egypt and the ancient Egyptians thought owls were bad luck.
" When Claire woke the next morning, the owl was sitting up right and alert, despite its broken wing. Claire made a call to Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (East Sussex WRAS) who came and collected the owl. On April 4, just under a month after the owl was injured, Claire had the satisfaction of seeing it released back into the wild.
"It was so lovely to see the owl we rescued given another chance and recovered from its broken wing after being hit by a van. "If you do see an injured animal and it is safe for you to stop and pick up - with gloves especially - you might be rewarded with seeing it be released back into the wild again." With 110,000 to 220,000 pairs in the wild in Europe and 4,000 breeding pairs in the UK, the barn owl is one of the country's most recognisable species.
It feeds on mice, voles, shrews and some larger mammals and small birds. They typically measure from 33 to 39cm in length and 250 to 350g in weight, and a wingspan of 80 to 95cm..
