Eagle Owls in Yorkshire?? (1 Viewer)

[TWM]

Totally agree with Jos.
They were probably here many years ago. They are already recolonising in Europe and they eat Rabbits. No brainer- let them stay. Look forward to seeing one in the wild.

 

[StevieEvans]

Someone else mentioned this. It seems entirely probable to me that there are a handful of other pairs - but 40??? Surely such large birds (with loud calls) could not have established a population of this size without it being widely known by birdwatchers.

Comments anyone?

Hi
Just b'cos it (any bird species) hasnt been seen, doesnt mean it isnt there.....
The distribution of our regularly breeding owl species is patchy to say the least ..... nevermind something we quite possibly dont expect to be there.

As Andy suggests, get off the beaten track & who knows what we might now stumble upon....

Steve

 

[London Birder]

I'd still like to know where the figures come from

 

[IanF]

Gerry, we're on page 8 of "views on the recent BBC 2 show"!!

I guess Gerry got dropped into that one by the staff. Several Eagle Owl threads have been merged together so the odd one may seem a little strangely placed

 

[jpoyner]

Someone else mentioned this. It seems entirely probable to me that there are a handful of other pairs - but 40??? Surely such large birds (with loud calls) could not have established a population of this size without it being widely known by birdwatchers.

Comments anyone?

How many birders who have visited the Scottish Highlands in summer can say they saw Long-Eared Owl?? Quite a few did NOT is my guess.......yet they are everywhere!
It's a very good point made below that we cannnot actually prove that this pair did not arrive naturally. Therefore any programme of recapture or eradication would be very difficult to justify.
Anyone know what happened to the Black Isle Eagle Owls that keep being mentioned???

John.

 

[vwxyzen]

Someone else mentioned this. It seems entirely probable to me that there are a handful of other pairs - but 40??? Surely such large birds (with loud calls) could not have established a population of this size without it being widely known by birdwatchers.

Comments anyone?

The Birds on last nights programme did seem ridiculously obvious and easy to see, but who is to say that other pairs are not more secretive in their habits like typical continental birds.

I was fortunate enough to have a breeding pair pointed out to me in Spain earlier this year and even with an exact description of where the birds were it took me a while to make them out. They blend in with the rocks!

Unless you knew they were there you wouldn't just chance on them. This seems odd for such a large bird and I think people are thinking big=obvious. Not the case.

 

[London Birder]

and during the summer EO would be even more visible than LEO

 

[Ben Nevis]

The fact they may not have occured naturally in the past (and any negative ecological impact they may/may not have) is THE argument though isn't it?
QUOTE]


I refer to Jos' statement - somebody who lives in the 'shadow' of the Eagle Owl.


"As Eagle Owl is common across much of Europe and species such as buzzards and other owls are at least as common as in the UK (or more so), I can't really see the presence of Eagle Owl having much of a dent. The patch of forest on my local patch where Eagle Owls reside has both Honey Buzzard and Common Buzzard breeding in very close proximity, as well as several pairs of Long-eared Owls (and other raptors and owls). If the owls are taking these birds, it certainly has not decreased their populations in the eight years I have been observing."


It is just all media scare tactics as it always is.

Thanks for your observations.As someone with a local and extended knowledge of this pair of birds,I shall believe your comments more than the "mass speculation" going on throughout this thread.

 

[barry potter]

Hi
Just b'cos it (any bird species) hasnt been seen, doesnt mean it isnt there.....
The distribution of our regularly breeding owl species is patchy to say the least ..... nevermind something we quite possibly dont expect to be there.

As Andy suggests, get off the beaten track & who knows what we might now stumble upon....

Steve

i agree my own opinion on ospreys where that they where never driven out just a bit more secretive .i think that at least some of these birds have recolonised naturally.
Barry :smoke:

 

[London Birder]

don't you read posts ... I have already previously agreed with Jos's comments ...

Look, it's all really really simple...we have X amount of EO's in this country, breeding and assumedly non-breeding ...

no one knows where they've come from (the pair on TV last night I mean) but everyone agrees (or don't they) that there's a significant number of escapees/releases at large ...

Ecological monitoring is underway ...

If Jos's comments translate into the UK landscape (and I believe they will) then EO stands a good chance of being upgraded to Cat C of the Brit list (and probably C1 at that if my memory serves me correctly) and thereby gain legal protection, no one can expect a Cat A listing without actual proof of a wild bird ...

Like it or not, that's just the way it is

 

[Keith Reeder]

Ben Nevis, who/what are you thanking?

Every opinion on this thread about the origins of the Yorkshire (and any other) EOs in the UK now or at any other time is nothing more than speculation - not a single comment is, or can be, authoratative.

Certainly, the folk who have seen the Yorkshire owls don't know the full story.

 

[stevo]

In the Eagle owl programme Roy Dennis was able to find EO`records from the Autumn time & then their was the Eagle owl ringed in Yorkshire that turned up in Shropshire 200 away miles so easily a short hop across the channel.Aren`t we forgetting other introduced predators? IE Little owl.

Steve.

 

[London Birder]

Stevo, RD was able to locate records of reported EO's, those records don't appear to stand up to modern scrutiny ...

The ringing recovery was of a young bird which had dispersed away from the natal area ... as have all the young so far, seemingly ...

Little Owl, though an introduction, is a different kettle of fish ... it is well established and has no real negative impact upon the environment, hence it's Cat C status ... this may well yet happen for UK EO's at the culmination of the monitoring

I hope I'm not being misunderstood, they are fantastic birds, I love them, I hope they find NO reason NOT to protect them ... but the situation as it stands is fairly understandable

 

[vwxyzen]

Stevo, RD was able to locate records of reported EO's, those records don't appear to stand up to modern scrutiny ...

The ringing recovery was of a young bird which had dispersed away from the natal area ... as have all the young so far, seemingly ...

Little Owl, though an introduction, is a different kettle of fish ... it is well established and has no real negative impact upon the environment, hence it's Cat C status ... this may well yet happen for UK EO's at the culmination of the monitoring

I hope I'm not being misunderstood, they are fantastic birds, I love them, I hope they find NO reason NOT to protect them ... but the situation as it stands is fairly understandable

I don't think anyone can say Little owls have not had any negative impact upon the environment, as a succesful hole nesting species they surely have over the years prevented 100% British hole nesters from breeding.

 

[London Birder]

sure they have, but not to any detrimental level on a population level ... even native birds displace native birds

 

[vwxyzen]

sure they have, but not to any detrimental level on a population level ... even native birds displace native birds

Who's to say that the decline and subsequent extinction of the Wryneck was not due in part to the spread of the Little owl?

 

[London Birder]

I have no idea who's to say ... but I'd be happy to read their theories, not sure the decline of the Wryneck over the whole of the UK could be considered attributable to the Little Owl myself, other than the occasional bird getting evicted, but sure, willing to accept that if shown to be the case, I'd then ask why wasn't something done about it, however I suspect the decline of the Wryneck has less to do with any hole nester than other, more base ecological reasons, but I have no great insight into it ... but we digress

 

[Stuart]

Can anyone shed any light on the bird that was mentioned being burnt on pylons in Shropshire.Maybe who,where and when it was found??

Stuart

 

[Ken Hall]

Can I add a few observations/comments, hopefully that have not already been said. Is it just chance that the EOs turned up on Ministry of Defence land, with very restricted public access? Seems to me more likely that they were deliberately released there, perhaps to give them less chance of being discovered. Some owls are migratory or partly migratory, others are sedentary. EOs are sedentary, and do not make seasonal journeys, therefore they are very unlikely to come zooming in off the North Sea one foggy day, unlike Short eared Owls, who do it regularly. If Tawny Owls (sedentary) can't even make it across to Ireland, can we really expect EOs to cross from mainland Europe? And why are we getting so hung up on what is native or not? Native to where? The UK is part of Europe, albeit an island separated by a mere 20 odd miles (it used to be joined to it) and from Europe you can walk all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It's one big wonderful world. Or it was until man started playing god. Funny how the most intelligent species on earth can also be the most stupid. We should accept whichever birds are able to exist wherever we live, and enjoy them.

 

[markho]

The decline of the Wryneck, and quite a few other hole nesting birds is more likely to be due to habitat loss , not LO introduction , In my area 20 odd years ago the most common trees were Elm. The most common hole nesting birds were Nuthatch , Treecreeper and LS Woodpecker. They are both now extinct ,birds as well as trees , completely gone . As the EO programme showed last night if they have the right habitat the will thrive. We should be more concerned about the increasing threat of Sudden Oak Death being spread by unscrupulous plant importers and growers than a handful of EO.