NParks officers use crane to place fallen baby owl back on tree on 23 June
When an owl chick fell out of a tree in Seletar, NParks deployed a crane to return the owlet back to its mother.
MS News spoke to two people present at the scene along Baker Street near Hampstead Wetlands Park — Mr David Tan and Ms Rovena Chow.
52-year-old Ms Chow came across the scene at 10.25am on Monday (23 June), where an NParks contractor was handling the fallen owlet.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
Many photographers surrounded the scene, eager to capture the incident.
NParks arranges for crane to help with rescue
Ms Chow said someone had discovered the owl chick on the ground earlier and alerted NParks.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
Mr Tan suggested that the strong winds of an early morning thunderstorm had knocked it out of its nest.
He recalled seeing an NParks contractor inspecting the fallen bird and even removing ants from its body.
Source: Rovena Chow on Facebook
According to him, NParks had expected the parent owls to fly down and retrieve their child. However, the pair only observed from the trees.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
Ms Chow told MS News that an NParks officer assessed the situation and arranged for a commercial crane to place the owl chick back into the tree.
Image courtesy of Ms Chow
The crane operator performed a check on the tree and found that the owls’ nest had suffered damage.
As such, the owlet was placed in a plastic container for better security.
The box included nesting materials and holes on the bottom for drainage.
Worker in crane secures new nest back in tree
With the worker holding the container in hand, the crane lifted them into the trees.
Source: Rovena Chow on Facebook
He secured the artificial nest back onto a branch while the adult owls watched intently from their high perches.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
“Immediately after the installation, the female buffy fish owl was seen flying back to attend to her chick.” Mr Tan said.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
After a few moments of investigation, it climbed into the makeshift nest with the chick.
Source: David Tan on Facebook
Ms Chow praised the NParks personnel, contractor, and the crane operators for their successful rescue.
MS News has reached out to NParks for their comments on the incident.
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Featured image adapted from David Tan on Facebook and Rovena Chow on Facebook.
