Large White bird of prey

[yorkshireTrev]

Hello all, went out on tuesday night and saw a really big white bird of prey. We were just crossing a road from one to field to the next and it came flying down the road towards us carrying prey of some sort, it swooped down then rose into a tree beside the road. Upon approach it flew back over to the field, we walked round onto the field about 50m in and it flew up from a ditch.

Its wing span was easily at least 4ft. To be honest when it perched in the tree i thought it was a snowy owl due to the shape, an escapee maybe ?

Are there any other birds this could be ??

Im going out again tonight to see if i can spot it, the camera will be coming too this time

Trev

[Jason Claxton]

Maybe its a Barn Owl ,YorkshireTrev,a Snowy Owl would be unusual ,hope you can find it again.

[Lance Morgan]

Barn Owl is my guess too

[Jason Green]

Hi Trevor,

Is an Egret or Heron with a fish possible? If not, it may be a leucistic BoP of a similar size. An escapee is possible... could you draw it at all? Did it have any distinguishing features - bill, tail, etc.?

Take care,

Jason

[yorkshireTrev]

Thanks for your replies, a Barn Owl would fit the bill, however this bird appeared pure white but it was under street lights which may have affected the colour we saw, i would definitely say it was an Owl due to it's stature and shape, definately not a Heron or Egret.

I was in total awe when i saw it, it flew down the road straight towards us swooped then rose into a tree, with the exception of colour the image below depicts perfectly what we saw coming towards us.



Fingers crossed for tonight, maybe i'll be lucky enough to get a snap.

Thanks again for your replies
Trev

[david156]

hi.

Barn owls can come in various shades from really pale too dark depending on where they come from. This time off the year britain can get some migrants from europe which do look differant.

Cheers David.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by yorkshireTrev

Thanks for your replies, a Barn Owl would fit the bill, however this bird appeared pure white but it was under street lights which may have affected the colour we saw, i would definitely say it was an Owl due to it's stature and shape, definately not a Heron or Egret.

The first barn owl I ever saw was perched under a lampost before flying off silently and that looked pure white too. I showed why people thought they were ghosts in the past

[davidbr]

Probably a Barn Owl - under any form of artificial lighting, they look strikingly white

Snowy Owl isn't totally impossible, though - they are kept in bird of prey collections and at falconry centres, and they can and do escape. I saw one once in North Norfolk, totally unexpectedly, that gave me the shock of my life - unfortunately my dreams of a major find evaporated quickly as it turned out to have hopped out of a private aviary a couple of miles down the road