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This is a true story, but it has all the magical quality of fairy tales.

It happened a few days ago at the Casa Chianti Classico, the former Convent in Radda in Chianti, where the managers (Giuseppe Pollio and Alessandro Boletti) discovered some very special guests.

But let’s hear this charming story from Alessandro: “On May 3rd some customers told us there was a chick on our panoramic terrace. It wasn’t able to fly so I decided to place it on a low wall, about a meter and a half from where we found it. In this way I was trying to protect it from the cats and other predators (magpies can be very aggressive with chicks)”.

“A friend of mine, who works as a biologist – he continues – tells us it’s a baby tawny owl. In the meantime the chick hides in a small niche in the wall. But after a few hours, just before closing time, we realize that it’s on the ground, with a magpie getting dangerously close. We call a vet, on the advice of the Regione Toscana, who suggests that we should keep it safe, away from possible predators”.

“So we decide to shelter it inside the cloister, in a cardboard box, with an opening so that the mother can find and feed it. The next day we find him tucked in one of the cloister’s manholes. After recovering it, we try to calm it down and feed it a few pieces of meat. In the evening we take the chick to the vet who delivers it to the bird recovery centre in Colle Val D’Elsa “.

But it’s not over. Ten days later, on May 12th: “Some clients – continues Alessandro – spot another chick that almost lands on their heads. And, somehow, it ends up on the railing of the friars’ wash-house. This chick also seems very small and not able to protect itself: after consulting with the vet, we decide to bring it to him”.

It’s May 15th: “A third chick appears, this time on a tree in the garden. It is definitely larger than the other two, and does not seem to be in trouble despite a pair of jays that scream and fly very close to him for the whole day. At the end of the day we see him take flight and, a little awkwardly, head for another tree”.

“In short – concludes Alessandro – there was obviously a nest on the roof of the Convent. We have a deep respect for animals, and have tried to give these chicks careful help”.

Matteo Pucci

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