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During the 2026 breeding season, Fatherdale lost a legend. Dryer, resident male barn owl, and loyal partner to Gilfi. Together, they raised nine chicks of their own and even a foster chick. Thousands of you fell in love with his funny antics on the feeding post. Clumsy courtship Lots of you enjoyed the moment when Dryer could hear a chick peeping inside its egg and trying to feed it a vole. And his obsession with his own reflection. But to truly understand why his loss hurt so much, we have to go back to the very beginning. Dryer's life began with a survival story so remarkable.
Without a stroke of luck and a life-saving rescue involving Jean Thorpe, his legacy nearly didn't happen at all. This is that story. Right, Alan and Jean. So, just before you came, I found Dryer underneath the trees on the ground face down. So, something has knocked him down. Either, you know, potentially a bigger bird of prey or even a car and it's made it out onto the field. But what a life he's had, hasn't he, Jean?
Well, a lot of people don't know why it's called Dryer. Dryer actually came from Jean Thorpe. And just tell us where Dryer was actually I got a phone call from a farmer in New York. Mhm. And they bought a car Dryer. And it came on the back of a lorry and stood in the yard for at least a week. Can you heard a sound in it. And he thought oh, it's rats or something like that. He went and had a look and there was found out chicks in it. I went straight for them and took them straight to vets you know we it was touch and go. One died on the way to the vets. One died at the vets. The vet put fluid It was Hannah that did it.
Put fluid under the skin. Which literally saved their lives. Yeah. Which literally saved their lives. I came home and then every 2 hours for the next 48 hours I syringe fed them with rehydration fluid. Yeah. We don't feed them straight away. No, you can't give them food or anything like that cuz that does kill them. Yeah. And then we you know they got going and then once they got going properly and they were flying in the neighborhood you got them. Yeah. And we actually released them from Elmstone. Yeah, yeah. We did. And we Because they knew what dead owl chicks were and you supplementary feed them.
Mhm. Um so we knew that they would recognize the food. That's the thing with most wild birds. You feed out you know uh chicks they don't recognize them as food. No. So you've got to get them onto that first and then once they come to you supplementary feed them and then away they went. They I mean they weren't difficult once you got them were they? So I think that yeah we released a batch of owls. Yeah. So Finn actually was one of those and this is in 2019. So this is 7 years ago and Finn actually bred with Gilfi Yeah. first and sadly we lost Finn in the water trough and then Dryer took up Gilfi as the partner and he was absolutely useless to
be fair. The beginning wasn't like Yeah, he didn't know one end from other really. No, no. But Gilfi trained him up. Yeah. And um got him to be such a he's just a brilliant owl. Both of those owls. I mean that's the thing people get to see them on camera Yeah. and get to know them. And know the story and it was a story because those young birds wouldn't have survived if we hadn't been involved in it. Well they looked after for so long. People don't realize when a young bird fledges the nest how long they're actually look after them. So you think the owls with a It's weeks, yeah. At least a month.
Yeah. I mean, I'm watching bullfinches at the moment. I've watched robins. They're still looking after their chicks 3 weeks after fledging and feeding them. Yeah. Uh so something bigger like a barn owl, that's much more of a commitment. It could be 4 weeks, 8 weeks that they're still involved with these chicks. So there's quite a story. He's got a wonderful story. Yeah. That nobody would not have known about if we hadn't Yeah. And the and ringing them out, isn't it? Cuz then at least you know what happened.
Well, that's that's the beauty of ringing it. I mean, early stages when I was into conservation, you know, I always wondered about ringing, is it actually necessary? But you know, we wouldn't know any of this without doing it. You know, we've had so many success stories um with owls that would have literally died. Yeah, they would. They without us all. Second chance in them all the time, aren't you? Just giving them a second chance. I hope that they take it. Cuz look at their lives, can't we? They don't know that all this is going on. They don't know you're filming them, are you? You're trying to They don't even really know that we help them, probably.
No. But that's how it should be, isn't it? Don't you think? Well, they know I feed them cuz when I come on an on a night, you know, I mean, I'll miss him drying on an evening cuz he literally comes right in. I can be stood there and throw a chick down for him and he'll come and get it, yeah. Come and get it. It's sad that he's gone, but I mean, 7 years is it's a good life for a wild bird. It's not bad, is it? And he's had a good life here. Bred, you know, bred young. I mean, what That's what it's all about for a wild bird, isn't it? His legacy goes on, doesn't it? So thank you.
No, well, it's just uh it's a success story, but a sad story, isn't it? Yeah. It's when you lose them, yeah. You know, you've known all about his life, haven't you? People love him, you know. All over the world. It's crazy. Yeah, cuz it's a secret life that they live normally that we never get anywhere near, do we?
