Eagle Owl Sighting - Jarrow Tyne & Wear

[BIG MIK]

i was working on friday night and at about 12:30am i saw an eagle owl above my head swoop in on a group of pigeons resting on the church. there all scattered and it landed on a roof opposite and sat there for about 10 minutes,

im convinced it was an eagle owl as its wing span was bigger than my car (mondeo).

iv never seen a bird so big, i took a photo off my fone but it was dark and hard to see.

[naturelover]

hi big mik welcome to the site,wow you were lucky to see that,pity you didnt have a camra with you.

[aeshna5]

Well it's certainly possible- there are a few about- escaped/released birds + possibly the odd genuine wild bird crossing the channel. It would be good to confirm one way or another?

[JeffH]

You'll find several similar threads reporting isolated sightings and there was, of course, the pair that bred for 10 years on the MOD land in North Yorks before some *!*!*!* shot one of the pair.

Jeff

[mh68]

There have been a few Eagle Owl escapes up here in the NE over the last couple of years - heard of one last year near me where an escaped bird was having a go at small dogs as they were being walked in the area - bet the owners got a shock!!
Cant write off it being a wild bird though.....

Mark H

[Goatboy]

It will be my first 'mission' of early spring to go and see the Eagle Owls at Bowland (assuming they're still there?)

I've seen captive ones and they are amazing but I've never seen wild/ feral ones. It must be incredible to see them in flight in the open - assuming it isn't flying directly at you with talons outstretched that is.

[BIG MIK]

Im not giving up, i work at the same place every week at the same time so im goin to have my camera ready.
iv read on a different site that theres been a sighting in Sunderland, which isnt far from Jarrow... so it confirms it (to me anyway) that it was an easgle owl, as iv never seen anything so big, but it was too dark to see if it had ear tuffs...

[garrynixon]

@Big Mik:

Where exactly did you see the owl?

It would be fantastic to have a family of them living in Jarrow. We know that there are barn owls (and tawnies) here, but this sounds far too big for them.

I seem to remember watching a telly programme about eagle owls in the UK and I think you can verify a sighting by finding the remains of what they've been eating.

Garry

[BIG MIK]

the church it scared the pigeons from was opposite the Ben Lomand Pub. next to the Viking statue (you'l know where im on about if you live close).

what do you think my chances are of seeing it again in the same place?

[garrynixon]

That's Christchurch, right in the town centre.

I have no idea if you'll see it again, I think they have a very big territory. But I'll let as many people as I can know about this, and hopefully your sighting can be confirmed.