Rare Snow Owl sighting


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Ok as promised a couple of the Buzzards and a very nervous looking Rook , watching them intently from a bit of shelter.

I've been watching a female Wood Pigeon being persued around the roof tops by various suiters for the last couple of days . He spots her She spots him He huffs and puffs She ain't impressed

Cold, wet and windy as a rule. We still have four seasons: Winter can be very cold, -20°C not uncommon, -25 on a few occasions throughout a normal winter. Can snow heavily at times and there is onl

Whoever took the middle section of that short film was pushing the capabilities of his tele lens, looked to me as if it was a eBay special edition jobby…….made in east Korea no doubt.

But still nice peace of nature in the raw so to speak…….and what a hoooooot toooooo.

Bip.

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I am so glad this has arisen, because one of you twitchers can perhaps clear up something that we have experienced for as long as I can remember.

I am no bird expert, but EVERY YEAR without fail for more years than I can remember, have we seen a bird appearing to be identical to this, on the Ruan High Lanes near Tregony.

We have even had the fantastic pleasure of it swooping across the car bonnet, on many occasions, when driving through in an evening.

The locals, including our relatives at Tregony, have always told us that it is a Snowy Owl, and obviously we have had no reason to disbelieve this. We can even recall being asked if we have seen the "snowy owl" this year? etc.,

One year, I even discussed this with an attendant at an owl sanctuary down on the Liard, and he did not seem a bit surprised.

Now we are told that a Snowy owl has not been seen since 1948? so.. can someone tell us what bird it is, that we have actually been seeing?

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It's not a Snowy Owl, it's not even a bird, it's Beefsteak in his New Year fancy dress outfit looking round for a reasonably priced house so he can spend all day rock pooling in his favourite county.

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If it looked like this it probably was a snowy owl!!

They haven't been seen in Cornwall since '48 , but that doesn't mean they haven't been seen elsewhere.

I'm assuming you are talking of Wales? I have been lucky to see one on Anglesea a couple of years ago.

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Link us?

So no response to the crap lens being used then?

I'm no connoisseur but either the shadowing in the corners of the picture was caused by an ill-fitting lens sun hood or a east Latvian sweatshop knock out reproduction of a Carl Zeist lens either way just what I would expect from a amateur twitcher.

Bip.

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If it looked like this it probably was a snowy owl!!

They haven't been seen in Cornwall since '48 , but that doesn't mean they haven't been seen elsewhere.

I'm assuming you are talking of Wales? I have been lucky to see one on Anglesea a couple of years ago.

No... Tregony is in S. Cornwall. (clue is in the "Tre" bit) That is why I have brought this up.

Is there another white owl similar? ... if not then WE ASSURE you this is what we have seen for the past umpteen years.

Near Trgony... South coast Cornwall, Roseland peninsular.

Particularly frequently in the 80's and 90's .. right up to 2 years ago and going back to the 1940,s The sighting of the bird has always been a huge bonus to a visit down there. ... and since one has swooped several times over our car bonnet, we have certainly had superb close-up views. Cars coming the opposite way have slammed on brakes and pulled off road in excitement etc.,

These reports are always confusing. We had the same thing about Buzzards in S wales in the 70 - 80s and red kites in Oxfordhire... yet the skies were feckin' full of them.

I may not be a twitcher, but I have always kept birds and had an interest.

I would not have thought that this is a bird that you could easily mistake for anything else... unless there is another large white owl....????????

Or have we and the locals just kept it a good secret?

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Is there another white owl similar? ... if not then WE ASSURE you this is what we have seen for the past umpteen years.

Near Trgony... South coast Cornwall, Roseland peninsular.

Particularly frequently in the 80's and 90's .. right up to 2 years ago and going back to the 1940,s The sighting of the bird has always been a huge bonus to a visit down there.unless there is another large white owl ?

I’m no twitcher, but have kept Birds of Prey & bred several species owls. In fact I picked up a breeding pair of Barn Owls from Carlton on my last visit there.

Generally - There are no other large white owl breeds. That’s not to say that there might not be albino European eagle owls out there.

When we were searching for the Beast of Bodmin some years ago (or an excuse for a day out) we saw (& filmed) a white bird of prey of some sort at Bodmin. (not far from Tregony) We didn’t get close enough to identify it but I would say that it was a bit bigger than a buzzard,,, tho’ slimmer. It was all white,,,, no other colouring. I still have no idea.

Other large white birds – more rare in U.K – Gyr Falcon,,,, but doesn’t look like an owl.

Like snakes, pumas, wallaby’s, deer, squirrels etc things are released from private collections as well as escaping. I wouldn’t be surprised to see anything in this day & age.

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Snowy owl (nyctea scandiaca) first nested in the Shetlands in 1967 but since 1975 there has been no male bird on the islands during the breeding season, they are a lot bigger than the barn owl (tyto alba) by some 20-30cm also a true white colour as opposed to the barn owls off white.

They mainly live and breed in Scandinavia but if you cut a straight line between there and parts of the Uk it's not such a great distance and being carried on the prevailing north wind it's not impossible to see them in the UK, there was at least one sighted in Lincolnshire in the last couple of years but as yet I can't find reference to it on the local website but someone likened it on the ground to "a white mole hill" this through binoculars at some 75-100 mtrs I hope the sighting proves to be a Snowy owl and that all the birdwatchers get the chance to see it before the "twitchers" harass it into oblivion

Rog

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Thanks for all the help.

I think, it just happens to be the case that sometimes these creatures are about without anyone finding the need to "put it on record" or tell the world. Occasionally an expert appears, a great fuss is made of it all and it goes on record again.

(To be fair, had I been down there and seen this owl now... I would not have thought of broadcasting the fact any more than I have in the past... it has been anecdotal holiday talk, with locals and friends and no more).

One sad thing that I recall from a vist to the Penzance area, about 5 years ago, was the great number of owls that were road kill. I don't recall ever seeing many owls splattered on the roads, but that particular year there were dozens.

I know Cornwall very well indeed and there are areas that are absolutely astounding for beauty and wild life.... especially birds... but no-one goes there. [Too quiet for most folk... but perfect for people like me) Almost unchanged since the war, the places remain undisturbed and the locals know I will keep it to myself. The Cornish are not very friendly (as a whole) ...and don't like intruders.

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have mentioned this before but will reiterate as tis a nowl specific post.

When I was breeding owls (mainly Barn Owls) for sale, a good number of people were willing to pay for them - just to release into the wild.

They were absolutley gobsmacked when I told them that it's ill eagle (tee hee) to release them, without a government permit,,, especially when we all know that they are in decline.

Most of us are fully aware that if captive bred birds (now matter how un-imprinted) are released in any numbers, that only a small percentage of them would survive,,,, but in my mind, any percentage would make it worthwhile.

Baz

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  • 2 years later...

Thanks for that link Red , I'll keep my eye on it .

Icidentaly, today (Valentines day) is the day that birds traditionally pick their mates for the season!!

(Not just us then !!)

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  • 1 year later...

Just been watching the live stream of the Falcons, What beautiful birds!

I do miss living at my parents house, their garden backs onto a field & they live near the old gedling colliery, When i lived there... We once had a barn oil sat on our fence hooting away at silly oclock at night, Sparrow hawks, A rather large stork decided to 'pop on in' to say hi.. before visiting another neighbor to nab a couple of their fish from their pond. Robbins are another favourite round there & next door had a large Magpie nest.. Home to quite big magpies, that one of our cats decided to catch... Iv never seen so many magpies swoop down and attack a cat before!! luckily we managed to free the bird & get the cat in the house before some serious damage was done. The bird was fine, just missing a few feathers etc... The neighbor has destroyed the nest for unknown reasons so itll be interesting to see what the magpies decide to do! At my house, your lucky if you see a pigeon, theres that many cats around here.. you dont see anything else!

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you dont have far to walk to the lagoons now and with the weather picking up it would be a nice walk with your baby.

if you dont fancy walking it on your own get a few other young mums together and take a pick nicl but remember keep young children close to you those lagoons are very deep and cold even in hot weather.a good way of making new friends too and a cheap local day out

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I was thinking about taking a walk down the lagoons this afternoon, but completely forgot how to get there & the last time i went, we went on bikes.. Was quite over-grown and not 'pushchair friendly' so it put me off a little, unless i remember it all wrong? it was a few years back though mind!

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I absolutely adore owls. Owls & Pugs im crazy for... & This picture has really made my day, thankyou. :)

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