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Help I’d this owl from a terrible picture! (1 Viewer)

E

Elliedot01

Member
Apologies v v poor photo,could get to the bird in time. Def an owl, was v big. Logic says tawny owl but looked bigger than that when sitting on the fence post. The owl is centre frame, flying off from a post, v white wing tips.
I am west wales, rural.
 

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Hi Ellie
I don’t believe your image is clear enough to get a definite ID. My guess would be a Barn Owl, they typically sit on fence posts on the side of the road and the warm tan tones seem good. (It’s possible some of the white might have been glimpses of the underwing as it flew away from you.)
 
Thanks, I realise the photo is too poor for much help. So frustrating as it at be perched for long enough for me to see it, rush to the house faff around putting dogs in and getting camera. It just flew as I was trying to focus!

Happy to accept barn owl, I have seen others round here and it was on the edge of open scrub. It it just looked so large, couldn’t tell if it were owl or tabby cat. I will have tohope to see it again.
 
Even though a Barn Owl isn't completely white, it is usually so pale as to give the impression of being almost white as it flies past. So if it seemed brownish at the time, it is probably another species.
 
pianoman said:
Even though a Barn Owl isn't completely white, it is usually so pale as to give the impression of being almost white as it flies past. .
Click to expand...

This is largely true of a Barn Owl hawking over a field because invariably ones eye is drawn to the very white impression of the underwings and belly&face as it quarters the field often just slightly above eye level, whereas the browner tones of the mantle can get swallowed in the landscape.

Still photos of the receeding upper back of a Barn Owl can give quite different impression, and especially when taken at close quarters in daylight

https://www.birdguides.com/gallery/birds/tyto-alba/993902/

A Short-eared Owl is also a possibility of course, or Tawny but I don’t really associate ‘very white wing tips’ as a particularly memorable and stand out feature of either those species tbh - I have seen SEOs often perched on fences but not personally on the side of a road, and the few Tawnys I’ve seen at roadsides, they’ve been higher up on tree branches. But there are no rules!
 
Belated thanks for that Deb. Never been lucky enough to get that close a view of Barn Owl, so I'm sure you are right! Long Eared would also be a possibility down my way I suppose. The only decent view I get of LEO is of juveniles who are much more likely to show themselves
 
Thanks for the responses. I haven’t seen the bird again although have been out at dusk a few time to check.just to add that it looks like the side of a road it is actually just a field gate at the end of a v v quiet cul-de-sac.
 
Birdbrain22 said:
[Those buffy patches on the wings are usually seen in Long-eared and Short-eared Owls.
Click to expand...

It is true that both SEO and LEO both have yellow/buff patches on the upperwings formed by the unbarred base of the outer primaries as shown in the guidebooks. However, in my (humble!) experience of watching flying SEOs, this is not the standout plumage feature that catches the eye of an observer, but rather it is the very dark/black wingtips (opposite to the OP’s observation) and usually very well marked dark carpal patches (as well as the black carpal crescents on the underwing). Long Eared Owls (which admittedly I’ve never seen perched on fences or flying in daylight afair) also have very dark/solid carpal patches which would be the stand out ‘gizz’ plumage feature of a LEO in flight imo. An LEO would be rather unlikely though due to location and time of year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zoBcSrXZk

...but seriously, on this image, we can all agree (including Ellie I think!) that it could be any of the species we’ve mentioned! ;)
 
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Deb Burhinus said:
It is true that both SEO and LEO both have yellow/buff patches on the upperwings formed by the unbarred base of the outer primaries as shown in the guidebooks. However, in my (humble!) experience of watching flying SEOs, this is not the standout plumage feature that catches the eye of an observer, but rather it is the very dark/black wingtips (opposite to the OP’s observation) and usually very well marked dark carpal patches (as well as the black carpal crescents on the underwing). Long Eared Owls (which admittedly I’ve never seen perched on fences or flying in daylight afair) also have very dark/solid carpal patches which would be the stand out ‘gizz’ plumage feature of a LEO in flight imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zoBcSrXZk

...but seriously, on this image, we can all agree (including Ellie I think!) that it could be any of the species we’ve mentioned! ;)
Click to expand...

Agree that no 100% positive ID can be gleaned from this pic alone. I will say that I have seen a number of Shorties in daylight(early morning) posts being flushed off of them by unaware/uncaring people. Also have seen a total of 1 Long-eared sitting on a post(again very early morning daylight) that wasn't flushed... but was sitting on post and just took off.. all my other sightings were at roost site. I have watched many Shorties at dusk flying over the NJ marshes/fields and would argue that the patches on the wings are certainly often seen(but not always) and I think they may be amplified by the poor quality of the photo(no offense to OP)... but everyone's experiences are different.

If is even a definite Owl... I would have to lean to either Short or Long-eared here, but again can't say which from this pic alone.
 
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Birdbrain, just so you are aware before you develop your arguments too strongly - SEO are generally winter/passage visitors to the OPs location and it would be not be as likely as Tawny or Barn Owl. LEOs are even more scarce with maybe one or two records average annually with most during winter months. Realistically one has to consider the most obvious first which would be Tawny or Barn Owl.

BTW the dark wingtips and dark carpal patches are always seen as obvious features on SEO in flight, that was the only point I was making (but no one is trying to invalidate what experience you might have!)

btw I see the larger whitish area on the photo as the underwing of the wing furthest away from us and the smaller whitish patch as probably the tip of the underwing of the nearest wing so maybe we are interpreting the image differently.
 
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Birdbrain22 said:


If is even a definite Owl... I would have to lean to either Short or Long-eared here, but again can't say which from this pic alone.
Click to expand...


it is possible to check for any mid-summer records of SEO and LEOs here

https://carmarthenshirebird.club/

scroll down and use the species search in the species summaries

In answer to your question:

Birdbrain22 said:
Do we even know when the photo was taken the OP didn’t say?
Click to expand...

based on the first post, I got the impression that the sighting was very recent but I’m sure the OP will confirm one way or another
 
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Here in Ireland we don't have Tawny, but Long-Eared is a lot commoner - and actually Late June/Early July is the peak time for them, or rather for seeing them. But the picture will be different for the OP. Agree with Barn or Tawny
 
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Thanks for the responses. My sighting was on the evening before I posted. Photo taken a 9.30pm.
Happily acceptIng it is most likely to be a tawny, really didn’t look like a barn owl when perched, and it was soooo big. I have seen many barn and tawnies.
So cross I had to faff to get my camera ready, wish I’d got a photo that enable you all have a better look, doh!
 
Elliedot01 said:
... My sighting was on the evening before I posted. Photo taken ... really didn’t look like a barn owl when perched, and it was soooo big...!
Click to expand...

I think we’ve nailed it Ellie! If the bird you saw didn’t look like a Barn Owl then I would say almost definitely it was a Tawny Owl. Female Tawny Owls can look particularly big too and the size of the bird you saw seems to be the biggest takeaway here - (the colour impression of the image would also fit with one of the more rufous coloured Tawnys).
 
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