Any sighting of European Eagle Owl

**porshiepoo** · 05-Jul-11, 08:52

If anyone has a sighting of an Eagle owl, probably around the Lybster area but could be further afield by now, please let me know.

Tommy was mobbed & chased off by Crows & Seagulls on Saturday and is not likely to be able to hunt for himself. He probably won't be approachable unless he is weak.
He has anklets on but no jesses and has an IBR ring.

**dousslesh** · 05-Jul-11, 19:33

We are in the Roster area - is there a contact Tel no to use if The Owl is spotted ?

**porshiepoo** · 05-Jul-11, 20:14

Have pm'd you dousslesh.

Contact munbers are 01593 721246 / 07813157730.

Thanks

**fudge100** · 06-Jul-11, 18:04

Originally Posted by porshiepoo

If anyone has a sighting of an Eagle owl, probably around the Lybster area but could be further afield by now, please let me know.

Tommy was mobbed & chased off by Crows & Seagulls on Saturday and is not likely to be able to hunt for himself. He probably won't be approachable unless he is weak.
He has anklets on but no jesses and has an IBR ring.

Why were you flying him without jesses or telemetry?Or did he escape from his avairy?If so,don't you have a safety door on the avairy?

**starfish** · 06-Jul-11, 18:09

I am glad this owl had no jesses, at least it will not get tangled up and die hanging up side down an a bard wire fence , this i have seen in the passed. it must be a horrible was to die, frighten and starving

**fudge100** · 06-Jul-11, 22:34

Originally Posted by starfish

I am glad this owl had no jesses, at least it will not get tangled up and die hanging up side down an a bard wire fence , this i have seen in the passed. it must be a horrible was to die, frighten and starving

Hence the reason why,flying jesses should be used as opposed to mews jesses.Flying jesses have no slits or holes in them,unlike mews jesses.Unlike mews jesses which should be greased regularly to keep them supple,flying jesses should not,hence they become slightly more stiffer,thus keeping them from being tangled on fences or branches ect.

**Tyke** · 07-Jul-11, 19:12

Originally Posted by porshiepoo

If anyone has a sighting of an Eagle owl, probably around the Lybster area but could be further afield by now, please let me know.

Tommy was mobbed & chased off by Crows & Seagulls on Saturday and is not likely to be able to hunt for himself. He probably won't be approachable unless he is weak.
He has anklets on but no jesses and has an IBR ring.

Thanks for the picture, it is the same one that I saw yesterday, even down to the dip in the wing when in flight. As I said it looked tired and slow, but it was heading your way, such a majestic looking animal, I hope he turns up soon.

**nightowl** · 27-Jul-11, 00:09

Any updates, Porshiepoo. Is there any chance that he might learn to survive by himself or would that be impossible?

**porshiepoo** · 27-Jul-11, 09:57

Originally Posted by nightowl

Any updates, Porshiepoo. Is there any chance that he might learn to survive by himself or would that be impossible?

Thanks for the interest.
Tommy is alive and holed up at the bottom of our land in a wooded area. At the moment he is surviving on dead carcasses so is reluctant to fly to the fist, however we don't think he is hunting for himself so it's simply a matter of time. He's checked on daily and isn't as flighty as he was. Hopefully we won't have to trap him but we'll do whatever is best for him, if he decides to make moves from the area he most certainly will not survive.

**porshiepoo** · 08-Aug-11, 10:12

Just an update on Tommy. I'm glad to say that we have managed to catch him and he is now back home with his mate.

He's knackered, bedraggled and a tad freaked but he'll be fine.

6 weeks of living it large have finally come to an end for him. OH has tried in vain over the last few weeks to catch him using various methods - some of which wouldn't have looked out of place on a Monty Python sketch and some of which would probably have earned us a fair bit of money on You've been framed had we filmed it.
He's stalked him, tried to net him, climbed trees, baited him and even set a trap (which the bird had more sense than to go anywhere near). Tommy had the sense of mind to stay in the highest tress possible set in the boggiest ground possible which meant every attempt at catching him resulted in being so mud covered we would have been at home on a military camouflage training camp!
In the end I came up with the rather unorthodox idea of chasing him! Chasing him until he was too tired to fly! This obviously had its downsides as we couldn't guarantee where he would fly to and we have cliffs to one side and the main A99 to the other side, however Tommy had been out too long and we knew he was getting hungry. Plus after last nights deluge we knew he'd be sopping wet and this would hopefully hinder his flight.
So there you have it. 6 or 7 of us chasing an Eagle Owl over the fields with a rather large fishing net! He took a couple of gallant flights, rested on the house roof and then landed in a field. So myself and my daughters charged that field like the cavalry and though Tommy tried a couple more gallant efforts he was no match for my daughters and their 'go wide' strategy. Caught!

Thank you to all those of you who have contacted us with regards to Tommy and kept their eyes alert.
Thank you also to Kune for the pms and offer of help and all the ideas to help catch him. Much appreciated.