Wasn't expecting this...

Decided to take the chill off the Hut this afternoon.... smoke everywhere.... I snuffed the fire out quickly, thought it would be a bat. Heard a scratching sound....found claws....

Eventually called in a favour from a local chimney sweep, the two of of us took the stove apart (Arghhhh) fully expecting to find a dead little bird... Nope. A fully grown tawny owl wedged in a bend in a 4 inch pipe.
It took nearly two hours to free him*. But, we got him out alive.

Took him to a local sanctuary. We cleaned all the soot from his eyes and his nictitating membrane.. And saw his eyes working :-))))
Bad news is he has a broken wing, but they're going to splint it and are hopeful he'll recover.

Day gone, but feels good.