Yes this is exactly what it looks like, a dead bird. This is, was, in fact a Little Owl. I found the recently deceased at work in Needham Lake and having my trusty litter picker to hand I was able to carry out a CSI-style post-mortem examination. Well, I flipped him over a couple of times and took some pictures. I also noticed that it was ringed (note the silver anklet). This meant that this bird had been recorded and so I took note of the ring number and emailed the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology). They soon got back to me to inform me that it had been rung in May this year at a local site and was around 2 years old. Sounds young but apparently their typical lifespan is only 3 years. The results of my post-mortem sadly did not uncover the cause of death but there were no obvious signs of struggle or abuse. Poison perhaps? I may have to call Jessica Fletcher on this one.
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