Scops owl in Oxfordshire

[pheonix]

Im not sure if anyone has seen this bird shown on the internet or whether its been on peoples pagers (if you have one) but since tuesday people have been going to see this bird in Thrupp.
I understand its quite a big thing in the bird world as there are only a few that come over from europe to the UK each year, thus making it a big rarity.
The thing that amazes me is that its been there for nearly two months but no one locally had any idea what it was, someone has even claimed its been shot at?! i just wander how many birds go unnoticed like this?
I went along last night to see if i could find the bird (its quite close to me) and although i didnt see the bird i heard it, but you could tell where it was from the masses of people and there were even signs to guide you to the bird.
I say i heard the bird and didnt see it, which im happy with, but i had to leave as the crowd of people was getting too much. There was probably over a hundred people when i left and probably hundreds more people over the weekend. But dosnt all this activity disturb the bird? when i left people were shining torches into the tree where it roosts to try and see it rather than waiting patiently for it to fly out of its own accord, thats why i left because i was fed up with the behaviour of the people there, not really respecting the villages or the bird.

But any way rant over! Im glad ive heard this bird at least, if anyone wants some info on it go to www.birdguides.com

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by pheonix

But dosnt all this activity disturb the bird? when i left people were shining torches into the tree where it roosts to try and see it rather than waiting patiently for it to fly out of its own accord, thats why i left because i was fed up with the behaviour of the people there, not really respecting the villages or the bird.

Yes the behaviour of some twitchers does leave a lot to be desired - when I worked at weeting heath we regularly suffered idiots climbing over the boundary fence and running across the heath because they "had" to see a stone curlew, and they "had to see it now" It seemed that they considered their tick to be more important than the welfare of the endangered birds which they put off their nests by there thoughtless behaviour. In the season of 99 we lost at least three broods this way.

before anybody gets in a snit I know the majority of birders arent like this but there are an unfortunate number who are - in my experience bird races were the absolute worst for this kind of thing.

[Tornado]

On the rare occasion my husband and I have gone to "twich" a bird, we have generally noticed that it is mostly the photographers who have been badly behaved. They seem to use the fact they are a photographer in order to get the closest to the bird without any respect for its welfare. When there are huge numbers on a twitch we have found the best thing is to back off well away, this has paid off for us as we have usually managed to get really good views of the birds without causing them any distress.
It is a shame when, as you say people don't respect the bird or the place.
Tornado
P.S. I'm not referring to "all" photographers!!!

[eeyore]

my expereince is that there is a minority of unthinking idiots in most past time be it photography, birdwatching or whatever , that give the rest a bad name. I certainly wasnt having a go at twitchers per se just those who think that their tick is more important than the welfare of the bird. this goes equally for any other field including photographers, and the bimble brained botanist I met today who was cutting orchid so that he could "take them home to identify"

[John]

Well I am leaving at 7pm to hopefully see the bird.

Before we get into this twitching frenzy again there are a few thingss that need to be clarified.

1st. There are very little negative reports coming from this site since the first day it had officially been reported.

2nd. From Phoenixs' opening of the thread it is obvious he doesn't know the habits of a Scops Owl. As I said I haven't been there yet so don't know what these lamps are like but if you have seen these birds abroad you may know that they can live in the busiest of places.

I was in Corfu one year and was staying at Kavos, which is a mecca for the young. Booze, nightlife, you name it, everything happens there. It is one heck of a noisy place. Right in the middle of this lot was a Scops Owl, illuminated by all the flashing lights, streetlights, you name it. Totally unconcerned. I don't think lamping, if done correctly, will have much effect but I stand corrected if I am wrong but don't forget this bird has now been under intense twitching for a week now and if it was unhappy with what was happening it would be long gone by now.

3rd. There is a charity box at the pub where coffee is being sold. That box is filling up quite nicely I am being told.

4th. Where loads of people gather it is not possible for them to behave 100% correctly. This goes in all forms of life.

5th. Yes there are some photographers that overstep the mark but that is very rare. The proper photographer has the welfare of the bird uppermost. I am equally amazed by how little respect the ordinary Jo public has with wildlife in general. More damage is done by those members of our society than all the photographers put together.

6th. I always find that when the subject of a twitch is talked about by those that don't understand really what it is all about the talk always goes on the negative side.

I remember late last year posting a thread about a twitch I went on for a Grey cheeked Thrush in Hertfordshire. The resulting rantings by people that never went there, or hadn't got a clue about the habits of the bird, were to be honest downright rediculous. So much so that I left this site for a short while. The reason for my decision was that i was so disappointed that members on this site seemed to falling into the same old trap that members of other forums frequently do. I was hoping things would change and WAB members would be above that.

I certainly hope we are not going down the twitching bashing route on this thread.

John

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by John

Well I am leaving at 7pm to hopefully see the bird.

Before we get into this twitching frenzy again there are a few thingss that need to be clarified.

I certainly hope we are not going down the twitching bashing route on this thread.

John

CHILLLLLLL

I'm not looking for argument here, and if you read my post above you would see that i quite clearly said that I was not having a pop at all twitchers just those that behave irresponsibly.

I have been a countryside proffesional for over ten years now as well as being an ardent birdwatcher and more recently a semi profesional wildlife photographer. I do understand fully what goes on at these twitches having seen them from both the birdwatchers point of view, and that of a site manager.

If you look at the excellent birdwatchers code posted on this very site , it clearly says that the interests of the bird should always be paramount. Some twitchers and bird racers seem to forget this in their eagerness to get a tick vis the running across the heath to see a stone curlew putting stoneys, woodlarks and wheatears off their broods.
ditto with the shining of lamps at the owl, yes okay they do chose to fly in artificial light sometimes but to iluminate it with a powerful torch when it has chosen to be in a darker habitat is not putting its interests first.

I have no interest at all in bashing twitchers or birders and I hope no one else here does either. As I clearly said in both my posts it is only the irresponsible minority who are to blame and irresponsible minorities exist in just about any field of human endeavour.

[John]

Originally Posted by eeyore

CHILLLLLLL

I'm not looking for argument here, and if you read my post above you would see that i quite clearly said that I was not having a pop at all twitchers just those that behave irresponsibly.

I have been a countryside proffesional for over ten years now as well as being an ardent birdwatcher and more recently a semi profesional wildlife photographer. I do understand fully what goes on at these twitches having seen them from both the birdwatchers point of view, and that of a site manager.

If you look at the excellent birdwatchers code posted on this very site , it clearly says that the interests of the bird should always be paramount. Some twitchers and bird racers seem to forget this in their eagerness to get a tick vis the running across the heath to see a stone curlew putting stoneys, woodlarks and wheatears off their broods.
ditto with the shining of lamps at the owl, yes okay they do chose to fly in artificial light sometimes but to iluminate it with a powerful torch when it has chosen to be in a darker habitat is not putting its interests first.

I have no interest at all in bashing twitchers or birders and I hope no one else here does either. As I clearly said in both my posts it is only the irresponsible minority who are to blame and irresponsible minorities exist in just about any field of human endeavour.

Hi eeyore

I am certainly not having a go at you personally it's just that I have seen these type of threads quickly degenerate into twitching bashing. I wanted to try and put a stop to it if possible at the start of the thread.

You have picked up on the fact that Weeting Heath has been encroched and yes I know all about this, but the danger of putting out one problem like that suddenly makes a point that this is the norm, when it isn't.

What you also have to realise is that Weeting Heath is not really a twitch as the birds are resident there within the season they stay here. A twitch is a rare bird that is not in this country very often.

Anyway I am just leaving to twitch the Scops Owl.

John

[pheonix]

Just to clarify i didnt post this to start a row.
If i felt that strongly about it i wouldn't have gone myself, i was quite aware of what to expect i was just surprised by the reallity of it.

It is right that any bad behaved people of any group of people can give a bad name to the bigger party.

Hope you get to see the bird john, and maybe we'll get a short report of your nights findings?

[John]

Originally Posted by pheonix

Just to clarify i didnt post this to start a row.
If i felt that strongly about it i wouldn't have gone myself, i was quite aware of what to expect i was just surprised by the reallity of it.

It is right that any bad behaved people of any group of people can give a bad name to the bigger party.

Hope you get to see the bird john, and maybe we'll get a short report of your nights findings?

Well I'm back, tired and exhausted. I arrived at 8pm just outside Thrupp to a long line of cars parked on the edge of the A4260. Thankfully close to the road to Thrupp there was one space that I think all other car drivers hadn't thought of. It was near a gate and the grass was very very high but I slowly edged my car onto the grass, mindfull that I couldn't see if it dropped into a ditch, but after a couple of minutes I was safely parked and ready to go. It was about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Scops Owl site and as soon as I got there I could hear the Scops single note call. In fact a few times in the first hour and a half I was probably standing within 20' of the bird but apart from a quick flight, in deep foliage, (which could have just have easily been a Thrush) nothing was seen of the bird.

By 9:40 pm the crowd was beginning to swell so I took a photo of it (below). You can at least double this number as there were large amounts the other side of the trees and similar numbers the other side of the canal. As the night wore on even more arrived.

The one thing I have to say about this twitch was that it was like no other twitch I have been on. There were whole families in the field with their kids and more woman than I have ever seen on any twitch, most of them none, or novice birders.

At 9:45pm the bird flew unseen and started calling at the far side of the small wood next to the field we were standing in. Most people moved to one side of the tree but I got there about 30 seconds later just as the bird flew out towards the canal. I managed a brief two second look at the bird.

As the night wore on the Scops moved around the area frequently and as it got darker so a couple of lamps were switched on when it landed in any nearby trees. We waited in our field for another hour but the bird seemed to favour the trees furthest away from us and also those the other side of the canal so most of us moved to by the canal bridge. On the way we were treated to a pair of Glow worms which caught the attention of a few of us.

Four times the bird landed in the trees above our heads, near the canal bridge, and each time the trees were illuminated by two torches. If any more were lit up they were told to shut them down as the beams were to be controlled. Four times the bird was located but each time only a few birders managed to see it (I wasn't one of them). Each time the bird flew to groans from birders that hadn't seen it. After each sighting the birders that had seen it started the journeys back home, so reducing the numbers there.

At 12:35am the bird flew back into a nearby tree and straight away I was first under it, followed by Lee Evans (who was controlling the lamping) and another lamper, then the rest of the birders.

Two sides of the tree were illuminated and 5 minutes later one birder caught sight of it then I did. It was calling and each time it called it dipped its tail so at least there was movement to look for. I managed to get Lee onto it and then the second lamp was switched off.

This was a very hard bird to see as it blended so well into its surroundings but if you managed to see the movement then you had prolonged views of it but sadly a fair proportion of birders were possibly slightly at a wrong angle and failed to see the bird.

I had an eight minute look at the bird before it flew of to yet again more groans by those that still hadn't locked onto it.

I left just before 1am but there must have still been at least a couple of hundred people there that still hadn't seen it.

I don't normally give Lee Evans much credit but on this occasion I will as he controlled the lamping to perfection. He was telling me that he had been there every night so if that was the case I would have thought the lamping would have been equally controlled on each night.

In the end it was an enjoyable twitch amongst birders that were respecting both the habitat and the bird. I can't speak for other nights (apart from reports from friends that had been on previous nights) but this night was certainly succesfully controlled.

John

[kite1035]

Totaly agree with you we stayed till 1-30 when we got good fiews of the bird it was hunting moths in the beam of the lamps

Kite1035

[pheonix]

Thats a good point about the families and number of children at the site, it may get a few more youngsters into birding.
The torching and close proximity of people to the bird and around the site must not bother the bird in the slightest, as if it did im sure it would have gone by now.

And 'Lee Evans".. not THE lee evans... as in monkey boy?!!

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by John

What you also have to realise is that Weeting Heath is not really a twitch as the birds are resident there within the season they stay here. A twitch is a rare bird that is not in this country very often.

John

I know Weeeting isnt generally a twitch - which is why I said "twitchers and bird racers" the general problem at weeting being with the latter. However that said the biggest encroachment at Weeting in my season was caused by the arrival of a red footed falcon which was definitely a twitch judging my the number of twitchers in attracted.

Anyway I hope you had fun with the owl - I would have popped along myself if I though there was a realistic chance of getting within camera shot.