PREVIEW

WORDS BYLINE: Sarah Ingram

He had nursed the tiny creature back from the brink of death - then released him into a new life in the wild.

But Tiberius the tawny owl still seems to consider Mark Foden’s house home. Earlier this month the 63-year-old checked his doorbell camera to find his old friend had reappeared to say hello.

The magnificent bird was just a tiny chick when he was found abandoned on a military barracks parade in Plymouth in June last year.

A marine friend took the owl to retiree Mark, who keep chickens, geese and a parrot, and had previous experience rehabilitating an injured jackdaw in 2018.

Mark named the chick Tiberius, after Star Trek character Captain James Tiberius Kirk, and created a substitute nest in a cardboard box.

Over the next few weeks, he lovingly fed the owl chopped up mice and ratlets he’d bought from a local pet shop.

“He was very emaciated and had not been fed for a while,” Mark said. “He was probably a very young wild chick, not long out of the nest. At first he wouldn't eat, it was very difficult to feed, he wouldn't take it himself, so I had to put it in his mouth and push it down.”

Tiberius quickly outgrew the box and moved into a parrot cage in the lounge, then the chicken house and finally an aviary in the garden. Once he was bigger and stronger, Mark let him fly free.

“When I released [him], I just opened the door and I filmed it. At first he was quite resistant - he thought, “This is a bit odd,” and he kept coming back and forwards. Eventually he leaned over and he flew out and then he disappeared,” Mark said.

Just 12 days later Tiberius returned home for the first time.

‘I looked on the Ring app and he's sitting there and I thought, “oh, wow, this is good”,’ Mark said.

There was then a gap until the owl returned to the man who had saved his life earlier this month. He is now visiting virtually every evening.

Mark, from Plymouth, hopes Tiberius will one day establish a territory, but continue to stay in the vicinity, so he can keep an eye on him from his cameras.

‘I have four Ring cameras for security on my home and use one as a mobile to watch any wildlife that may visit my gardens. I love the live aspect of being able to check at any time on my phone”, he said.