From Stowarzyszenie Ochrony Sów (Owl Conservation Association)
A church from Pomerania in Poland had an owl stuck inside for 3 days. It had eluded the people there and even the fire department. Finally the Owl Conservation Association was called in!
When Karol arrived, he was greeted with the Barn owl perched on a cross, I’m assuming the one in the photo. It did not want to be caught though, and despite being weak and hungry, it escaped behind the decorative organ pipes.
Karol and crew used thermal imaging goggles to track the owl behind the pipes, trying to direct it to people waiting to catch it and to keep it from getting stuck in the pipes.
They got it out from behind all that, but it still refused to be caught. The people spread out to block all the hard to access spots, and they moved in to herd the owl to a good place for capture.
Finally it was caught!
It was severely starved, but it was given food, comfort, and supervision, and quickly regained energy and bounced back well enough to be released the next day!
My experience holding birds for photos has gone terribly! The Screech Owl really did not want to come out of its carrier, and was constantly biting me and trying to fly away and almost all the photos look like it is attacking my face. The house sparrow just shot out of my hand like a wet bar of soap. The head and chest is so large and the rear end is tapered, so they’re shaped like an upside down raindrop and they do not want to stay in your hands! All these photos make me so jealous and feel like a dumb-dumb for not being able to hang onto a bird. 🥺