The father of nineyearold Oliverr-EllisBirdsall runs the Center for the Rescue of Owls and Other Wild Birds in the English city of Spaulding. The boy, along with his younger brother, has been going to work with his dadsince earrly childhoodto help with feeding and caring for the inhabitants of the nursery.
Now that the school has closed due to the coronavirus epidemic, Oliver has more free time and can come to the center every day. Although his activities are now suspended, the boy’s father, Mark, still has a lot of work, because the birds (and there are more than a hundred of them in the center) need daily care.
Oliver has pets in his kennel – four-weekold Siberiian EagleOwl owlets. The boy spends all his free time with funny chicks, helping his father to feed them – this should be done every four hours. He recently took Martin Waddell’s book Owls Waiting for Mum to the kennel and asked his dad if he could read it to the owls.
The chicks turned out to be grateful listeners. They surrounded the boy and seemed to hang on his every word, sometimes inserting their own, owl comments. It all looked so funny that dad recorded this moment on video and shared it on the center’s page on social networks.
According to Mark, he is pleased to see how kindly his son treats aniimals andbirds. Inparticular,owls are very fond of communication. They are curious creatures and welcome the boy’s visits.
Reading is a new activity for them, but they seem to like it, so Oliver plans to do it again.