An owl has been saved from a North Sea oil rig after being blown nearly 200 miles off course by storm winds.
The short-eared owl had been blown off-course by 100mph gusts while she was attempting to migrate to winter feeding grounds from her home in Scandinavia.
Offshore worker Sam Crowe spotted the owl on board the North Sea drilling rig Noble Patriot, 180 miles north east of the Scottish islands, last Thursday after Storm Amy.
He kept the exhausted bird warm and fed it raw chicken until it could be flown by helicopter to Shetland’s Sumburgh airport.
It was then picked up by Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary staff and taken to the local vet.
Tired and weak, the owl, which the oil workers had called Oli, was examined by vet nurse Lisa Trueman and found to be uninjured, but very thin.
She passed the bird on to local ornithologist and tour operator Phil Harris who nursed it back to full health, feeding it mice until it was strong enough to be released.
Sam, 30, from Scarborough said it took several attempts to catch the bird after he found it as he was about to start his shift.
“Knowing it wasn’t going to survive out here, I made it a little home in a box and got it some raw chicken and some water,” he said.
Ornithologist Phil Harris said she was “a very lucky owl” to have survived the storm.
It would have been her first attempt at migrating across the North Sea from her home in Scandinavia.
“To be captured and fed for a couple of days has given her a lucky escape, really," Phil added.
"She devoured a lot of mice while she was with me and put on a lot of weight.”
Pete Bevington from Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary said they were only too happy to help with the rescue.
He said: “Normally we rescue and rehabilitate seals and otters, so it was a real treat to be able to help such a majestic creature as this owl - such a beautiful bird.”
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