Three Owls Fact-sheet

The Three Owls Bird Sanctuary and Reserve...

was founded in 1962 when a young girl called Helen took a baby Sparrow to Mrs Eileen Watkinson. She reared this and the following week the little girl brought another "A friend for the first" Little did Mrs Watkinson realise, but from this small beginning would grow a Sanctuary which now has Subscribers world-wide.

In 1991 she was awarded the MBE for her work with the birds - something she openly shared with all the helpers at the Sanctuary. Sadly Mrs Watkinson passed away in March 1995 following a long illness. She is buried on the Reserve in line with her wishes amongst all the birds she loved and cared for over the years. Eileen Watkinson's Autobiography

The work at the Sanctuary was taken over by Nigel Fowler, who had worked on a one to one basis with her since 1978 and was the only person prepared to take on the 24 hour day, seven-day week task which running the Sanctuary entails. He was awarded the much coveted ''Volunteer of the Year Award'' in June 2000 for his work at the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is both a Registered Charity and Charitable Trust.

The aims of the Sanctuary are to take in any wild bird in distress, to rehabilitate it and return it to the wild. Where this is not possible, due to illness or injury, but the bird is capable of sustaining a good quality of life, we offer it sanctuary in one of our many aviaries or on our 4½ acre Reserve.

The Sanctuary costs £2,000 per week to run and this money is all raised through voluntary contributions and through fund-raising. The Sanctuary sends out a bi-monthly Owl Newsletter - annual membership is £10.

We also raise money through our adoption scheme; people 'adopt birds' and pay towards their keep (50p to £2 per week). Click Here to make a Donation.

We have our own Lottery 300 Club - a monthly draw where for £12 per year you get 12 chances of winning either £50 £25 or £12.50. Click Here to join.

The Sanctuary is open to Visitors every Sunday from 12 noon to 5pm (4pm in winter) when there are guided tours around the four and a half acre Reserve. Depending on the time of year you may see between 200 and 1000 birds undergoing various stages of rehabilitation. In 1989 the work on the Reserve won us an award with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.

Sales are held in our Visitor Centre every Sunday where there is a varied supply of personalised Three Owls Goods, new gifts and quality bric-a-brac.

Birds are brought to us all times of the day and night. We aim to never turn any birds away and often people travel long distances to bring birds needing our help. For example we have had guillemots from Polperro and Scarborough, and Ravens from Aberdeen and Colwyn Bay. Though we are unable to collect any casualties, we aim to assist people any way we can and admit around 2000 new birds each year. Advice is readily available on our 24 hour Help line.

It is not only owls which are a large feature of the Sanctuary. Two disabled herons were brought to us in 1981 having both been in collision with pylon wires Their injuries were so severe that they each were left with only one 'good' wing each. In 1985 they paired up, being unable to fly, they built a nest on the ground. Three babies were reared and these then flew away when fledged. They returned the following year with wild 'friends' and built nests on the aviary roofs. The following year they then progressed into the trees in the Reserve. Each year the babies from previous years have returned to nest, and by 1993 we were told we have the largest Heronry in the Northwest. Numbers have since fallen as we expect the surrounding foodstocks have also diminished. It is worth pointing out that this instance would not have occurred, had we not given the disabled herons a chance to live their lives out at the Sanctuary.

In 2000, our derelict Grade II Listed Barn was converted into a 3-bed cottage, which is rented out to provide a sustained income for the Sanctuary, we also replaced our outside toilet block with one providing full disabled facilities. In 2005 we built a brand new intensive-care hospital, and in 2006 we will be upgrading the pathways to give full wheelchair access around the aviaries.

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