A barn owl has been rescued after becoming stranded about 70 miles from shore and seeking refuge aboard a boat carrying British Army soldiers competing in a race around Britain and Ireland.
Image of barn owl used for illustrative purposes/Steven Ward/Wikimedia Commons
According to the BBC, the exhausted bird was spotted struggling alongside the Army Offshore Racing Team’s vessel after apparently falling into the sea several times. The soldiers eventually found the owl collapsed on deck and brought it aboard, where they kept it warm and safe until help could reach them.
The crew named their unexpected passenger Little Reg, short for “regiment”.
An unlikely passenger at sea
Mark Petherbridge, a member of the Army Offshore Racing Team, said the crew first noticed the owl behind their boat before it began flying alongside them.
“It flew alongside and was trying to find a place to land and get on board,” he said, according to the BBC.
After the owl fell into the water a number of times, the soldiers managed to get it onto the boat and placed it in a box.
“It’s been a tough 24 hours for him; it’s not the most comfortable boat to be on, but he’s doing well,” Petherbridge said.
The soldiers described the owl as showing a “real will and tenacity to survive”.
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The circumstances that brought the barn owl so far offshore remain unclear.
James Stannard, a conservation officer with the Barn Owl Trust, said he believed the bird may have been roosting on a fishing vessel before being inadvertently carried far out to sea.
Finding the Army boat may have been a stroke of extraordinary luck.
Stannard described the rescue as “nothing short of a miracle”, noting that the owl may not have survived without being taken aboard the vessel.
The soldiers themselves had limited food supplies, with only ration packs on board, making the bird’s rescue and rapid return to shore particularly important.
Lifeboat answers an unusual call
Once the owl was safely aboard, conservationists coordinated with the Caister Independent Lifeboat to bring it back to land.
The lifeboat met the Army crew off the Norfolk coast and transported Little Reg ashore, where he was handed over to Marine and Wildlife Rescue.
Paul Garrod, chairman and crew member of the Caister lifeboat, said the rescue was an unusual callout but one the team was happy to answer.
The service has previously helped animals including dogs, horses and seals.
“We don’t just rescue people. We’ve done dogs before, a horse before, seals, all sorts. We’re all living creatures, and it’s nice to help the little owl on his way,” Garrod said.
A long road back to the wild
Little Reg was taken to the East Winch Wildlife Centre in King’s Lynn, where he was due to be assessed by a vet.
Dan Goldsmith of Marine and Wildlife Rescue said the owl was likely to be dehydrated, exhausted and underweight after its ordeal.
The immediate priority was getting him to veterinary care, with hopes that he would eventually make a full recovery and return to the wild.
For the soldiers, the rescue was a brief but memorable detour from their own challenge. After handing over their feathered crew member, the Army team continued competing in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s race around Britain and Ireland.
What began as an exhausted bird desperately searching for somewhere to land ended with an unlikely team of rescuers, a lifeboat and a second chance for a barn owl that had somehow found itself 70 miles out at sea.
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