It is not a bike, but it is beautiful

[Jayneflakes]

Had a rough weekend, found a Fledgling Starling in the street that had been had by a cat, but it did not make it and died this morning.

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I must admit to being quite sad, but not for very long because today we picked up our new baby, Alby.

I am now officially a mummy. :cheers:

Alby is his/her name. We shall not be inflicting a gender on our baby until we can tell what gender they really are! Well, we need feathers for that.

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Bred in captivity and imprinted for raising by humans, little Alby the Barn Owl is going to bring a lot of joy to Carol and I on our third anniversary together. :smt040

[barwel1992]

had a look at the photos on fb lovely little thing :D

[Bluefish]

cute, well he or she will be, how did you get hold of it?, they don't just give them away.

[Jayneflakes]

We went to a specialist breeder, little Alby is fully registered and ringed. It does cost to buy something as beautiful as an Owl, but Carol has wanted to get back into Falconry again for a long time. Her last bird was several years ago and was also a Barn Owl.

I knew a breeder in Devon a while back who bred Merlins, Peregrines and even a Gyr Saker hybrid. All were hand reared and made beautiful pets. More cuddly and less murderous than cats, but way more interesting than a Goldfish.

As for little Alby, he is happiest when sat on a lap, cuddled into a person. The cats are a bit strung out though and are not sure what to make of it all!

[Geodude]

Thats a lovely little fluff ball :) Will you be training it to fly outdoors or will it just live in an aviary?

[missyburd]

Aww how beautiful! I am sorry to hear about the starling, so often rescued with good intentions but the shock does get to them.

Alby is gorgeous, always had a soft spot for Barnies, he/she will bring you much happiness I am sure. Fantastic critters, YC and I flew one at the beginning of this year, he was originally called Barney and such character! Enjoy Jayne, and Carol too :) xx

[Springbokki]

or will it just live in a run?

Its not a rabbit!

Sorry couldn't resist.

Shown this thread to my mum, and she is so jealous, adores owls, potentially to an unhealthy level! :(

[keith_d]

Sounds like another job for Miss YC when he/she's fledged.

[Jayneflakes]

Our plan is to let Alby be as free as a captive bird can be. It is a risk with flying Owls due to what is described by Carol as them being "Lazy F**kers!" They have a tendency to fly away or sit in a tree and stay there! Best bet is leave them hungry for about 24 hours and then fly them, they come back because they know that they will get fed!

He will be in the aviary only when we are work, I would hate for him to eat (or be eaten by) the cats, the rest of the time he will be sat with Carol and I, having cuddles or just chilling out. Her last bird was a real character who was very demanding of attention, this little guy seems much more relaxed, but still very cuddly.

The little chappie is developing flight feathers and real plumage, however flying is a little like falling with a distince lack of style at the moment. Landing via faceplant seems the preferred stopping method at the moment!

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Only seconds after this one was taken, our little bundle of fluff cacked on our duvet! The smell is er... interesting! I can feel that our washing machine is going to be busy while we house train!

[dizzyblonde]

LAzy critters LOL

We were treated to a display last year at the Yorkshire Wildlife park. Their owl decided it really didn't want to show off to the public and preferred to roost in the Range Rovers wheel arch, that belonged to the keeper! But wow what a wonderful display of flight when he did eventually come out :)
One thing I did see the other day on the telly was a lady who had one kept in an aviary, they do like to have a bath apparently! Not literally in your bathtub, but one of their own, I didn't know that. Obviously I've seen little birds sandbathing themselves, but never thought a larger one would prefer to have a bit of a dip in its own bathtub LOL

[Jayneflakes]

Hmm, lunch...

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[SoulKiss]

You jammy b*%$h !!!

Nice one :)

[missyburd]

how lovely to be able to watch all his feathers come through and him bloom into a proper little barn owl, from a big ball of fluff!

[Jayneflakes]

Carol and I went down to the garage today to work on the bikes and took our little friend with us.

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Now, I am used to people stopping for a chat while we work, but today we had crowds. People who have never spoken to us before stopped and met Alby and the local children have all asked if they can come and fly him when he is old enough.

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My boy Jasper is feeling a bit put out though, he is not at all keen on Alby and stays just far enough away, but still close enough to be with us. The poor boy is a bit clingy, so he needs extra love at the moment.

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Alby is doing well though and is eating like it is going out of fashion!

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[xXBADGERXx]

Hey Jane , PM me your Address , I have a present to send you that you will find usefull for the handling of Alby

[Geodude]

Couldn't you have just bought a disk lock to protect your bike like the rest of us ;) Poor Jasper looks well ****ed off.

[Jayneflakes]

dOL8cCpOQuo

Here is a little video of Alby and us playing. There are a couple of mild curses because Alby has very sharp claws that shred my hands. :smt005

Carol also made Alby a Facebook page! I don't know who is the most sad her for doing it for our owl or me for doing it for both of our cats! :smt037

[Jayneflakes]

More pics, we are starting to see mature feathers coming through now and we are starting to think that Alby may be female.

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[Geodude]

Just wondered how Alby was doing?

[timwilky]

When I was a kid, my mate and I had a couple of kestrel chicks that had been abandonded. For some reason the parents never returned to the nest so after 3 days we rescued the starving things.

We fed them on pigeons. Now they were lazy, we had to pluck the damm things and chop them up before the birds would feed. Best day was about 6 weeks after we rescued them when they flew up to the trees and stayed about for about 2 years occasionally returning to old hen cabin we initially housed them in

[Geodude]

How's the fluffball doing?

[Jayneflakes]

How's the fluffball doing?

Well, now there is a story! You know what happens when you grow up and discover the biker life style, you get very drunk and have a party or three...

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She has also turned out to be something of a hunter and can bring down a fairly tall Gungan warrior... thankfully she removes the head before they start talking in an irritating voice!

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[Geodude]

Cheers for the update Jayne. Alby looks lovely and im glad it removed Jarjar's head. :D

[Jayneflakes]

She hit the vodka too!

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We do still love her though. For those of you who come to Weston Bike Night down here in Sunny (yeah right!) Weston Super Mud, you can come along to the Biker ROck Radio tent and meet the little lass. She loves cuddles and attention, which is handy because she gets loads!

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And she loves the pub too!
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This is her bike!
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She is very sweet.
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