View Full Version : dam those owls
Brocktor
25-07-2006, 23:32
im pretty sure it was a owl i heard just now outside, ive never seen an owl so i went for a walk around the streets to see if i could see it, but no :( . last year i heard a whole group of them outside, i guess it was a mum with her family. its a very loud noise.
then i thought - how silly of the owl to be so noisy, it was alone so not calling to anyone i think, so why make your prey alert of your presence? i guess it was hunting as it is well after sunset now. anyone know why?
Sound travels a lot farther at night, the chances are that it was calling to it's mate or letting someone else know that "this is my territory".
An owl can hear the heartbeat of a mouse when the mouse is six inches under snow and it is 30 feet away.
That would give you a rough idea as to how far away the call could be heard.
mikehill
26-07-2006, 00:09
More than likely a Tawny. Hearing them is easy, seeing them is more difficult ... unless they sit on rooftops like round my way :)
Mike.
AFAIK tawny owls are the traditional "twit twoo" sound and barn owls the blood-curdling screech.
The "twit twoo" is more phonetically "ke-witt" *pause* "hoo-hoo" and is a call from one tawny owl answered by another. I can't remember which is the male and which the female.
Fenlander
26-07-2006, 07:09
Dave Watson at Woodland Survival Crafts sells really effective owl whistles http://www.woodlandsurvivalcrafts.com/bushcraft-shop.php
I have tawny's in the woods next to the farm, and i think its the female that does the "ke-witt". They're at it all night long, one of my favorite sounds.
We rescued an injured female in April and i stupidly picked it up without making sure i had hold of BOTH of her legs. I've never felt pain like i did when she sunk her talons into the side of my hand, but i'll know betta if i have to do it again lol
fred gordon
26-07-2006, 19:07
School boy howler! Why don't owls make love when it's raining? It;s too wet to woo! Sorry... :buttkick:
Moonraker
26-07-2006, 19:28
The 'twit' is a contact call and the 'twoo' is the male's territorial call, and the twit - twoo is most likely a male answering a female (or another male).
Hear their calls here;
BTO Tawny Owl Survey 2005-2006 - Tawny Owl Calls (http://www.bto.org/gbw/Tawny_Owl_Survey/Listen_to_Tawny_Owls.htm)
I'd seen very few of them until my hike at the weekend, when I saw two and heard another during the night.
The first one I saw circling over a field with long grass and thick bushes at about 8pm. The second was swooping up to hide in a tree at 10pm when I arrived late to the place I planned to sleep at. For the third, it was midnight and I was lying on my bivy bag in the middle of a field, two miles from the nearest village. I heard it killing a rabbit, I think.
Maybe you have to go out of your way to see them, because I've only seen them then.
weekender
09-08-2006, 15:19
[IMG]outdoor005
Hopefully ive posted a picture of a barn owl that landed on gate post about 8 feet behind my van one early sunday morning as i was finishing a shift at work caught it on my phone camera so the quality is not that great.
If it dosent work could someone tell me how to post pictures :rolleyes:
weekender
How to post pictures (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13734).
weekender
09-08-2006, 15:40
Thanks Led
Not being very computer literate i will give that a go when i have a bit more time and work is not looking over the old shoulder.
weekender
ps anyone wanting to watch for owls early evening or early morning is the best time i was actually sat in the van at the time and just kept quiet and still while it sat on the post, which was a farm railway crossing gate in the fens near manea for those that know the area.
bikething
09-08-2006, 16:17
Agree with the early morning / early evening bit.. there's a barn owl that regularly hunts the fields behind my house.
It usually perches on one of two fence posts at the far corner of the field behind my house, although last week it decided to perch on a post at the end of my (8m long) back garden !!
JonathanD
09-08-2006, 23:25
Beautiful creatures, there is something very special about owls...
weekender
10-08-2006, 09:50
Beautiful creatures, there is something very special about owls...
i agree and its also amazing how confident they are and where they they suddenly appear sometimes in the places you least expect them. nice picture bikething
Yup, great to see them, but rare nowadays.
I recall quite a few times, usually evening, catching owls (Barn?) in the loom of the car headlights, as they ghosted over the narrow country lanes.
Seeing them like that, always used to invoke an image of a gull with no apparant head!
Ceeg
Agree with the early morning / early evening bit.. there's a barn owl that regularly hunts the fields behind my house.
It usually perches on one of two fence posts at the far corner of the field behind my house, although last week it decided to perch on a post at the end of my (8m long) back garden !!
Wow! What a fantastic picture and how honoured you must have felt to see it so close!