GOT International

 PROJECT SCOPS OWLS TAKES OFF                 

        60 FLEDGLINGS QUIT THEIR NEST BOXES AND SET OFF FOR

        THE WARMTH OF  NORTH AFRICA 

        AS THE COOL MEDITERRANEAN AUTUMN BEGINS TO SET IN...

scops owl: otus scops (strigiformes). Catalan: Xot (pronounced ‘shot’).

Spanish: autillo europeo. German: moucho das orellas. French hibou petit-duc

This month-old scops owl is lucky to be alive.     When just a couple of hours old, it was found lying beneath the undergrowth in the woods of the Tenes river basin and sent to the Torreferrussa Wild Fauna Rehabilitation Centre, run by the Catalan Government. There it was cared for, nurtured and readied for release into the wild. With some 59 other scops owls similarly rescued and rehabilitated, the centre launched PROJECT SCOPS OWL: getting the fledglings, duly ringed and registered, housed in nest boxes all around Catalonia’s  Valles Oriental county, and letting them fly south of their own volition. The hope is that when these birds return next spring they would head straight for the nest boxes they left behind. GOT_TENES was one of the  groups participating in Project Scops Owl. 

Twelve-year-old Fiona Arrizabalaga  (above) soothes a rather nervous scops owl just before her father, Toni, gently places it in its nest box near an olive grove in the grounds of the family’s  country home in Marata, on the outskirts of Granollers, capital of  Valles Oriental. The box hangs four metres up the steel frame of a sun shelter and will stay there until the return, hopefully, of the  owl  in February.

Teams of GOT members

undertook  to place 20

fledglings in nest boxes

located in various vantage points.  GOT veteran Lluis Gascon (right) introduced this one to its home high up a cherry tree in his garden in Lliça d’Amunt. Below, Lluis and another veteran Albert Blaquez manage to hoist a nest box up a holm oak and carry the owl in a box to its home.

THIS OWL IS REALLY SPECIAL

The smallest of the strigiformes, the scops owl is a migratory bird with a preference for Catalonia, where it always returns to in  summer. Its natural habitats include  woodland, wooded river basins, parks, gardens and even farmhouses -- all home to its prey  which includes insects, reptiles, small mammals such as bats and mice, and other small birds.  It lays its eggs in the hollows of old trees, or in nests built by other birds.

The adult grows to about  20cm in height, weighs no more than 100g, and has  a wing-span not exceeding 50cm.

THIS TIME NEXT YEAR

For Catalan bird watchers in general, and scops owl fans in particular, spring 2011 will be something to look forward to. Will our little ones return to their nest boxes?  Tune in to GOT International to find out!

One bird of  prey

that just can’t

wait to get away

Only a couple of weeks before the scops owls took flight, this European Kestrel was given a big send-off at a World Birds’ Day celebration held under the auspices of GOT. A damaged wing had grounded the kestrel, but it was discovered and quickly sent to the Torreferrussa rehabilitation centre where the injury was treated. Before long, its wing was as good as new.

European Kestrel or Common Kestrel: Falco tinnunculus(Falconidae). Catalan: Xoriguer comú.

Spanish: Cernícalo común. German: turmfalke. French: faucon crécerelle

Bird-lover Anna Blazquez,9, one of the scores of children who turned up with their parents at the gathering, has a close encounter of a very special kind with the kestrel. Showing it off  and giving a running commentary of its characteristics are Roger Sanmarti (with bird in hand), bird-ringer Jordi Rodriguez (left), and Anna Dalmau.