The Winking Owl

What a very strange birthday!

One minute I had a day off work, next minute I didn't, then it became a sort-of day off then it turned into a full day not-off!

However, the day was very varied and included a poor Tawny Owl who flew full pelt into a wall!

I was called out by dog walkers - the owl's prey (a mouse) was lying 20 feet away, quite dead.
The owl was badly stunned and doing it's very best to die.

After some treatment, x-rays showed a broken radius (wrist) but not much more and as he was developing an attitude (grumpy owls click at you!), he went off to the Wildlife Centre where thankfully, the wildlife vet was going to be working today.
I almost posted the x-ray but quite liked this image of our nurse examining the owl's retina.

We all learned a lot today - we found out the owl was probably quite young as the retina was unpigmented and discovered the existence of a strange thing in the eye called the pecten - something peculiar to birds apparently.
These are the things that make me so happy to have chosen the career I did!