Owl @ Pasir Ris Park

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On 18th May 2008, Gerard Goh chanced upon an owl chick at Pasir Ris park while cycling along the bicycle track and posted a short account on his blog (above left).

“To prevent it from being unknowingly crushed by cyclists or accidentally trampled by joggers, a fellow cyclist and I prodded it onto a piece of fallen tree bark, lifted it and placed it onto a low hanging branch of a tree. Hope it manage to survive,” he wrote.

The owl chick probably fell out of its nest or made its first fledging flight and landed on the ground (above right). It has yet to fly properly and vulnerable to predators and being overrun by cyclists. Gerard did right to get it out of harm’s way and onto a branch. The adults would be around somewhere, keeping an eye on the chick and should take over from there.

Such accidents are quite common in the bird world. However, many of us feel compassionate and invariably try to pick it up and bring it home to raise it until it is capable to flying. This may not be the right thing to do for various reasons… see HERE.

Due to the age of the chick and the clarity of the image, it is not at all easy to identify the species. However, according to KC Tsang, it may be a Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu).