Long Eared Owl

[robert]

Hi everyone,

I am currently in Wiltshire for 5 days and I hope to be able to get a bit of local birding in. I am staying close to a large area of mixed woodland and I have always wondered if it might contain long eared owls? I often see both tawny and barn owls near the house, but I would like to add long eared to my year list. Problem is, I have made frequent trips up to the woodland in search of long eared owls and never seen one. Wondered if anyone on the forum lives in Wiltshire (near Devizes) and has seen one recently?

Thanks,
Rob

[MichaelF]

If it's got Tawnies, I'll be very surprised if it has LEOs. Tawnies eat LEOs.

[SteveE]

Hi everyone,

I am currently in Wiltshire for 5 days and I hope to be able to get a bit of local birding in. I am staying close to a large area of mixed woodland and I have always wondered if it might contain long eared owls? I often see both tawny and barn owls near the house, but I would like to add long eared to my year list. Problem is, I have made frequent trips up to the woodland in search of long eared owls and never seen one. Wondered if anyone on the forum lives in Wiltshire (near Devizes) and has seen one recently?

Thanks,
Rob

Rob
dont know much about Wiltshire, but know a bit about Long-eared Owls.:cool:

Right now is a perfect time of year to locate this species.

Pick a flat calm evening, preferably clear skies & a good bit moonlight.
Just before dusk, (turn on your owl radar :radar: ) - approach the most sheltered side of the likely wooded area (generally the north east side).

The various calls of the adults are not particularly far carrying, & can often be drowned out by the Tawnies in the same wood...

But, males can currently be seen & heard flying round above the edges of the wood in their wing-clapping display flights.

( Whilst Leos can occasionally be ousted by Tawnies, this Tawny vs Long-eared Owl scenario is an over simplification. -
We have just finished 4years of surveying our Co.Durham Leo population & out of our 90known pairs, we have many traditional sites where both owl species live in very close proximity. )

I see you mention Barn Owl. We often get B.O & Leo hunting the same ground.

To summarise:- Looking & listening for territorial Leo's at dusk, at this time of year is by far THE easiest way to locate them.

Good Luck.
SteveE

[robert]

Steve,

Thanks very much for the information. I thought it might be the case that there was some competition from tawny owls, but was unsure on what kind of scale it was. I will try an evening visit up to the woods to try and locate one, of course there may well be no leo's occupying the wood at all! I will give it a go! Thanks again,

Rob

[MichaelF]

One important distinction that Steve didn't mention is that Tawnies nest in tree holes, whereas LEOs nest in old crow nests. Therefore, Tawnies need fairly mature woodland with trees old enough to have developed holes (or have had owl nestboxes put in), while LEOs tend to go for younger plantations and shelterbelts where there will be crow nests but no tree holes. LEOs also generally need expanses of open rough vole-rich (i.e., uncut, ungrazed) grassland to hunt over; Tawnies more often hunt within woodlands.

[SteveE]

One important distinction that Steve didn't mention is that Tawnies nest in tree holes, whereas LEOs nest in old crow nests. Therefore, Tawnies need fairly mature woodland with trees old enough to have developed holes (or have had owl nestboxes put in), while LEOs tend to go for younger plantations and shelterbelts where there will be crow nests but no tree holes. LEOs also generally need expanses of open rough vole-rich (i.e., uncut, ungrazed) grassland to hunt over; Tawnies more often hunt within woodlands.

Michael
Robert gives us very little tree detail. Tree detail is not important in his search for target species - providing the odd tree has a suitable old nest.

He does say Barn Owl hunts there, so there will be suitable breeding habitat for his Long-eared target species.

Tawny owl presence makes little difference to his target species being present.

If i were Robert i'd be keeping an open mind (& ear) as to what i may or may not find there........

PS. (Tawny owls regularly use stick nests in our study area.
Last year we also saw Tawny nests on the floor of a hay shed & in a large (non rotten) basal cavity of a huge Spruce tree)



Steve,

Thanks very much for the information. I thought it might be the case that there was some competition from tawny owls, but was unsure on what kind of scale it was. I will try an evening visit up to the woods to try and locate one, of course there may well be no leo's occupying the wood at all! I will give it a go! Thanks again,

Rob

You're Welcome.
Good luck Rob.
Let us know how you get on. :smile:

[robert]

Hi everyone,

I was able to take a trip to the large wooded area at dusk last night. I was there until night fall but was unfortunately unable to locate any leo's. In fact, I didnt actualy hear any of the usual tawny owl calls (maybe too early?) I will have to try again another time for long eared owl, thanks for all the help.

Regards,
Rob