Owl saved from pipe turns heads

The tawny owl was rescued by surprised contractors

An owl has been rescued after being found in a small pipe.

Scottish Water said the "less than wise" tawny owl was rescued by contractors working on a sewage project in Aberdeenshire.

The six-inch wide pipe was holding up power cables but feathers were noticed falling out.

The owl was discovered inside the pipe and, after getting its bearings while perching on the hands of rescuers, it flew off into nearby woods.

Glenn Ford, of the team working on the £1.3m sewage project at Belts of Collonach, said he thought it was "a very unusual incident".

Beautiful creatures

He said: "It's certainly the right time of year for these birds to be looking for nests.

"Our main contractor has taped over the piping to prevent it happening again and they've bought a couple of professionally-made owl nest boxes, which they'll be putting up in the local woods."

The owl from the pipe was released after getting its bearings

Mr Ford said such "beautiful creatures" deserved all the help they could get.

He predicted: "The rescued owl should go on to produce between three and five chicks, helping boost the local population."

The pipe was being held in place by a fence post, several metres in height.

It enabled construction traffic to pass safely underneath power cables.

Strong winds recently prompted contractors to inspect the pipe. When they removed it from the fence post they noticed the feathers falling out and made their discovery.

An RSPB spokesman said: "The assumption is that the owl was nesting but it's possible that it was using the pipe as a roost because it is rare for tawny owls to start breeding before March.

"In rare cases it does happen though, so can't be discounted, and indeed one of the earliest breeding records also concerns Aberdeenshire when in 1974 a pair was recorded laying eggs in mid-January.

"Tawny owls don't build nests but depend on some sort of structure in which to form a scrape for the eggs. One pair even nested in an abandoned car in a conifer plantation. Let's hope that this bird will manage to produce a healthy brood of chicks this year."