Releasing Fighter the Owl

I have now had Fighter the Barn Owl for two and a half months.  In spite of being found with a severely broken wing and an injured leg, he appears to have made a full recovery.

A few days ago I noticed him making strange hissing and whining sounds that I had not heard before, and he seemed quite restless.  So this evening (6th September) I decided to release him.  I opened the top door of the cage and after looking round curiously for a while he came out.

He flew laboriously and not very far, soon landing on the ground.  I walked over to him and he flew off again, failing to reach any tree and landing on the ground again.  So at least I know he can fly that high when he tries.  After that I saw him fly back and forth between the roof and some large trees.  A bit worrying was the neighbour’s cat hunched and alert on the ground, waiting to see if it would get tired and come down to the ground again.

On the next two attempts he flew into fences.  I was very concerned by now that he was not really strong enough to fly far enough or fast enough to survive for long.  I was particularly concerned that he might land in a neighbouring garden, because some of my neighbours are particularly averse to owls and would do anything to kill them.  So I kept approaching his landing place to try and either re-catch him or at least steer him away from neighbouring gardens.  Then finally he flew off and I could not follow where he had gone.  I searched the whole back garden, both on the ground and in the trees, but there was no trace.  Worried and very concerned for his future I gave up the search.  No sooner had I gone back in the house than one of the kids heard scratching noises on the roof.  I rushed outside to find him sitting on the roof of the house, quite a distance from where I had last seen him.  

I have left some food in his cage with the door open, just in case he gets hungry before he manages to find his own food.

I am very concerned for Fighter’s future, but against all odds he has made it this far and is, like Harry Potter, "the boy who lived" (although I don't actually know if he is male or female).  I sincerely hope he will survive his new life in the wild and that he will really prove to be one of my "success stories".