barn owls

[tarka74]

hi im a keen twitcher and the one bird which keeps avoiding me is the barn owl if anyone who lives in lancashire nr clitheroe knows of any of these birds are around please let me know so i can film them thanx

[faz]

hi welcome to WAB dont take this wrong but i hope no one gives you details its breeding season now dont disturb them and on the cynical side how do I/we know your not a egg collector wrong time of year to ask that question or right time

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by faz

hi welcome to WAB dont take this wrong but i hope no one gives you details its breeding season now dont disturb them and on the cynical side how do I/we know your not a egg collector wrong time of year to ask that question or right time

I think Faz has a good point, especially as a keen twitcher would not have much trouble in finding a barn owl, though they are much easier in some parts of the country.

[RoyW]

I agree with the above posts - apart from anything else, Barn Owls are a schedule one species which would mean that any filming/photographer near the nest would require a licence (and if you don't know enough to find Barn Owls in your area, then you are unlikely to know if you are close enough to a nest site to be causing disturbance).
I apologise if this sounds harsh, it's not really meant to be, but I'm sure that you would agree that the welfare of the birds should always come first!

You may be able to find your own by searching likely areas early in the morning or late in the evening, but if you do you will need to make sure that you stay well away from potential nest sites (watch and film only from public roads and footpaths where your presence is not causing additional disturbance, and preferably keep yourself out of sight - eg. find somewhere where you can stay in the car or sit/stand against a hedge, wall etc). If you notice any indication that you may be causing any sort of disturbance, then forget about the filming and move away.


By the way, as an aside, I thing that you might find that you aren't actually a 'twitcher' at all. Although this term is used by the media in any story that involves birdwatchers(), it has a very specific meaning - birdwatchers are not all 'twitchers', in the same way that birds are not all 'gulls'!