Huge owl spotted??

[The Woodman]

I appreciate what you say Picidae and agree. If one wasn't aware of the S9 ammendments etc. and the date that they come into effect it could be construed otherwise, I just think it could be read in another way - to me anyway!

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I appreciate what you say Picidae and agree. If one wasn't aware of the S9 ammendments etc. and the date that they come into effect it could be construed otherwise, I just think it could be read in another way - to me anyway!

Well strictly speaking the wording should have been the 'newly amended provisions' of the Act don't come into effect until 3 April 2010 etc but I suspect this is just shorthand journalism since this would have been a little wordy, rather than any lack of communication or 'poor' reporting. Read in the context of the paragraph, it seems clear to me that it's referring specifically to the possible prosecution/or otherwise of the owner of the EO. The journalist probably assumed most people would have been aware that the WCA 1981 existed!

[Ladywell]

There is a report in Saturday's Independent about a recently escaped eagle owl in Wiltshire.

[cuscus]

Originally Posted by trondi

My wife came in from her walk with her dog to report that she had seen a very large owl (half a metre in height?) standing in the open in the middle of a N Hants field.

This was about midday on a bright sunny with cloud day so she had good visibility from a distance of about 150/200m. She first thought it was a large hare without ears - but then noticed the wind was definitely ruffling feathers and it had obvious tufts for ears.

Its head was doing the 'turning its head ' thing that owls do and it did not have the profile of a buzzard (especially no large curved beak) very common in our fields - but buzzards always fly up quickly if they spot people. This bird stayed still, with a bit of preening, for some minutes while my wife watched on. Soft brown/beige colours with obvious markings - not uniform colour of a hare that we often see here too.

Unfortunately she was distracted with the dog for a moment and did not see the bird fly off. Could it have been an owl, in the middle of the day. If so what kind?

Hi Trondi,

We were travelling back to Basingstoke via Kingsclere this afternoon (about 4:30pm) when my wife and children got me to stop the car because they said they saw a huge owl in a tree next to the road. They said it was about 2ft tall - my wife described it by saying it was about 2 sheets of A4 tall. Unsurprisingly, when we stopped the car and went back to look it had gone.

I then googled "huge owl kingsclere" and was very pleased to find your post.

Thought you might be interested.

(One of my children has now got me to download a picture of an eagle owl as their background because they are convinced that's what they've seen!)

[fluff11]

european eagle owl has been missing from the swindon area now for about 2 wks, could easily have travelled as far as highclere.

[trondi]

Originally Posted by cuscus

Hi Trondi,

We were travelling back to Basingstoke via Kingsclere this afternoon (about 4:30pm) when my wife and children got me to stop the car because they said they saw a huge owl in a tree next to the road. They said it was about 2ft tall - my wife described it by saying it was about 2 sheets of A4 tall. Unsurprisingly, when we stopped the car and went back to look it had gone.

I then googled "huge owl kingsclere" and was very pleased to find your post.

Thought you might be interested.

(One of my children has now got me to download a picture of an eagle owl as their background because they are convinced that's what they've seen!)

Excellent news Cuscus - that the owl is still in the locality a week after being spotted. Camera always at the ready but no luck so far. Any more location clues would be helpful on your last sighting.

My wife contacted the police, as suggested in the Independent article but the man on the desk had 'only just come on' and we are not sure if the Swindon owners have been contacted.

Many thanks for getting in touch - and welcome to the forum

Dave

[monkey]

So interesting to read about this owl we often come up your way to see the hares etc so must keep an eye open but it would be wishful thinking to see it when a camera was available!! Mind you the photos of the barn owl was in that area so it does happen!

thanks for telling us about your sighting

linda