Derbyshire police officers have released a tawny owl back into the wild, after finding it injured by the roadside earlier this month.
Appropriately enough, police took to Twitter to tell the world about their nighttime find after an officer who is a keen ornithologist rescued the stricken bird.
The officer in the Derbyshire Armed Response Unit, who happened to be a keeper of birds of prey, stopped off to rescue the injured bird - who was in a lot of pain.
A tweet from the police unit following the find said: "On way home to Glossop, our PC Ornithologist and bird-of-prey keeper saw this Tawny Owl injured at the roadside.
"It's now being looked after under his expert care and hopefully the Derbyshire Wildlife Crime Unit will approve when he releases it into its natural habitat when it’s fully recovered."
On January 25, officers tweeted their reassurances to members of the public that the owl was in safe hands and that the usual advice would be to contact a qualified vet and not to take it home.
They tweeted: "Please be assured though that our officer is an expert with birds of prey and is well versed in dealing with injured birds, has all equipment at home.
"We would urge anyone who finds any wildlife in a similar state to seek the advice of a qualified vet and not to take them home."
Fortunately, it was a case of 'owl's well that ends well' with the injured bird recovering sufficiently to allow it to be released on January 25 close to where it was found after it had been restored to full health.
