Long eared owl?

[danthekeeper]

Out tonight I was lucky enough to see what I believe was a long eared owl I haven't knowingly seen one of these before but it sat in a hedge not 6 feet from me and looking at the images on here i'm sure it was.
Are they common?
What habitat do they prefer?
It would be nice if it was a resident because that would give us 3 species of owl as we have a healthy population of tawny and barn

[ChrisJB]

I wouldn't say they are common, but they are more often seen in winter in my experience, where they do often roost communally in hedges and thick undergrowth. Up here in Lancs, two winter roosts I know of are at Pennington Flash and a good one at Marton Mere in Blackpool. I was at Marton Mere the other week and four were roosting together right by a path not batting an eyelid when a small crowd were watching them.
They always strike me as rather big owls. Where are you Dan?

Regards, Chris

[Dogghound]

If you have alot of tawny owls its unlikely it will be welcome for to long they are very aggressive towards other owls. As Chris says they are not uncommon, we get winter birds here which avoid woodland and stick to scrub and thick hedges. We often get birds roosting in hawthorn.

[danthekeeper]

Originally Posted by ChrisJB

I wouldn't say they are common, but they are more often seen in winter in my experience, where they do often roost communally in hedges and thick undergrowth. Up here in Lancs, two winter roosts I know of are at Pennington Flash and a good one at Marton Mere in Blackpool. I was at Marton Mere the other week and four were roosting together right by a path not batting an eyelid when a small crowd were watching them.
They always strike me as rather big owls. Where are you Dan?

Regards, Chris

I am in Dorset, I would agree it was quite big certainly bigger than a tawny

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by danthekeeper

I am in Dorset, I would agree it was quite big certainly bigger than a tawny

They are noticably smaller than a tawny. Are you sure about the size?

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by danthekeeper

I am in Dorset, I would agree it was quite big certainly bigger than a tawny

I wouldn't say they are bigger than a tawny, but when roosting they just seem have a hefty sort of chunkiness about them (maybe that's just me ).

Regards, Chris

[danthekeeper]

It was a fair size I would have put it as bigger but I was so close to it that I probably judged it wrong I have never been that close to a tawny.

[RKB]

They're noticeably longer winged than a Tawny and so look lankier. Tawnies tend to look blunter at the head end to me, whereas Long-eared look tapered at the head and tail, and can often look 'long' or 'tall'.

People often describe them as looking a bit 'cat like'.

They occur in all sorts of tree/bushy habitats (as do Tawny), so that's no real clue.

Tawnies also have dark eyes, whereas Long-eared have orange eyes, but I'm guessing you were out with a lamp so that's not much use!

Certainly possible in Dorset, so no why reason why it wasn't one. Many winter here though, so your bird might have been one on the way back out, so not a resident. Have a listen to the song and begging (juvenile) calls on here though, as they are quite vocal and distinctive so would be handy to familiarise yourself for this spring/summer xeno-canto/Europe :: bird sounds from Europe :: long-eared owl

[danthekeeper]

I could see it's eyes and they where defiantly orange

The lamp wasn't that bright

[RobinP]

Orange eyes indicate a crepescular hunter, i.e at dusk and dawn, Tawnys have dark eyes so hunt at night. Not sure when Long-eared Owls hunt so will say no more on the matter.