Great News: FOUND! OLLIE THE BARN OWL!

It's great news for Ollie the Barn Owl, his family and friends: he has been reunited with his owner!  

Ollie's owner, Mollie, writes, "I was driving up from DC yesterday, planning on spending the rest of the day and night looking for Ollie around the last reported sighting in Pottstown. When I got a call from someone who spotted a Barn Owl in their riding arena at the North Wynd stable in Gilbertsville. I asked if they could try to shut the building down and I changed my GPS and was en route. I contacted the wonderful volunteer team who have been following up every report of sightings and sounds. 

We all met at the stable, the manager of the stable had indeed shut up the building tight and the owl was still inside. At first I couldnt tell if this was Ollie, the bird looked a little different. But one of the volunteers had a very good camera, took some pictures, and confirmed that the owl had a gold metal band on his right leg!!! It was Ollie!!!! We then spent the rest of the night trying to convince Ollie to come to the trap (or to me) which he was not in agreement with lol. But finally one of my "tweaks to make the trap compatible to a Barn Owl" worked, and Ollie was captured at 3 am this morning. 

We are thrilled to have him back and safe. He appears to be in good condition, healthy and a good weight. I'm so thankful he didnt get into trouble with the many predators who would have tried to kill him, or poison eating mice around farms and buildings. 

I hope everyone who played a part in the search, location and finally recovery of Ollie, comes to the Birds of Prey program tomorrow, Sunday June 25th, from 1pm to 5 pm at Boyertown Community Park. Now in addition to the other awesome Birds of Prey, you can come meet Ollie! I hope to see you there to thank everyone in person."  

Ollie is an 8 year male who flew the coop during a May 6 birds of prey educational program at Pottstown's Riverfront Park. 

A desperate multi-week search by area volunteers ensued. There were Ollie sightings in Pottstown, Lower Pottsgrove, and Gilbertsville.  Raised by humans to be tame, there were serious concerns about the owl's inability to stay safe and find food. 

 If you missed the original "Expression" article about the search to save Ollie, you can read it here.

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