A rather routine, serene Saturday morning at the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun turned into a rather different and exciting one at around 10.30. A baby owl (Brown Wood Owl chick) fell from a tree and attracted the attention of the security staffers and other staff members of Raj Bhawan.
The owl chick sat at the spot and kept looking at everyone with its large, round eyes. Out of great concern, the staff members kept standing near it for some time. They tried to see if it could fly but found that it was too young to be able to do so. The forest department was contacted and they came to Raj Bhawan with a vehicle.
The owl was then placed in a small cage and taken to Dehradun Zoo (earlier known as Malsi Deer Park) where it will reside from now on.
Staff members said that they had seen the mother owl, rather a large one, trying to come down and check on the baby. However, since the owl could not fly it would have been dangerous to have just left it there. Monkeys that are seen around Raj Bhawan may have fed on it soon. Or even the large crows.
A lot of pictures of the owl were clicked by the Raj Bhawan staff members who stood and admired its beauty and colours. By 11.30 a.m., the forest department vehicle was on its way out of the Raj Bhawan gates along with the little owl.
The owl had a rather puzzled and sad look in its eyes as it sat there. It tried to flutter its plumage but could not do much to help itself.
Talking to this correspondent, Governor Dr K K Paul said that during his morning walk at the Raj Bhawan campus, he had often heard the owls which were nesting there.
While with its mother, this baby owl had been safe. The Governor hopes that it would be as safe or even safer at the Dehradun Zoo!