Topic: My owls are back!

[wardy]

I've been mourning the loss  of owls from my garden for a couple of years now  We think it might be due to loss of habitat caused by building and a local farm who has cleared a load of barns to make room for a housing development  >:(  We were chatting the other day about such things and my niece who is staying with me says she heard it as she came home late the other night.  I was ever so pleased as I've spent hours watching them, "talking" to them and trying to photograph them so was really sorry not to have them visit any more.  Anyway last night I was laid in bed and heard one screeching its head off  ;D  I'm really pleased to have them back.  My young niece and I used to go out when they were hunting out back trying to catch a glimpse of them.  One used to come really low over the garden.  Fantastic  ;D I'll try and get a picture but they're really difficult to spot in the dense canopy of trees

[katynewbie]

I am sooo jealous!!
The old building where I work has extensive grounds with lots of ancient trees and sometimes when I am there at night ( I work shifts, not a workaholic) we see the resident owl fly off all over the place. Its beautiful and absolutely HUGE!!!

 :)

[bunnycat]

Ohhhhh, I'm very jealous too :D

I love owls. I'm so glad they've come back to thier old haunt, Wardy ;D

[undercarriage plan]

Wonderful aren't they! We're lucky enough to have our garden back onto a cemetery, I love laying in bed listening to them screech.  Nothing like the sight of a barn owl gliding over the farmland. Glad yours have returned!! Lottie  ;D

[dotCompost]

I remember when they were building the Swiss-Re tower, known as the Erotic Gurkin, or rather when they where clearing away the old Baltic Exchange in the City of London from the bombing in 1992, there was an owl perched on one of the high columns. He was there day in day out for many weeks. Just sitting there. His head looking around at all that was going on around him. A joy to see in London..!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

So presumably it's a tawny. When they hoot it's usually two calling to each other, but the calls merge.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Tawnies are territorial; what you get is two owls calling to each other across the territorial boundary. A very small own would mostlikely be a Little Owl, but I can't be sure without a pic.

[redimp]

This is becoming a bit of a habit:

Little Owl
What does it sound like?
Call is a sharp 'keew keew'


Tawny Owl
What does it sound like?
The male calls with a hooting ‘hooo-hoo-hooo’, which is far-carrying. Female usually replies with a hoarser hoot. Also a ‘ke-wick' call.


Barn Owl
What does it sound like?
Screeching, wheezing and gurgling. :-\


Long Eared Owl
What does it sound like?
The males’ song is a drawn-out, low ‘oo…oo…oo’. The young birds make a drawn-out squeak, sounding like an unoiled hinge.


Short Eared Owl
What does it sound like?
Short-eared owls are largely silent. :-X

All info courtesy of http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/