I shouldn't worry too much about it's 'apparent tameness'. A regular bird behind my house (only c1 mile from this bird) used to appear just as tame but yet was entirely wild and from a known breeding pair. As for these leather ankle straps thingies, I can't comment having not seen this bird, but there is certainly more than 1 Barn Owl in that area and an escaped 'captive' bird would be a whole lot rarer than a wild bird round there!

Well, can we count this or not as it is a county first for me. I've got to say I'm not happy with it really
but if I hadn't read the stuff on here or met someone with a telescope there on Sunday, I would not be any the wiser.

Andy Bissitt

If the bird has been lost/whistled off by a bona fide falconer wouldn't it show evidence of close-ringing to prove it had been captive bred? Just a thought.

Good view of the barn owl this afternoon, arrived at 1340 with no sign of it so walked down the path towards the canal bridge. as i got halfway down i stopped and scanned the field with my bins, as i didso the bird appeared in focus hovering near the canal side fence. it continued to hunt for about 5 mins between the fence and the canal bank before it was disturbed by a dog walker and it flew off over the canal. after a few minutes i decided to walk over the bridge to see if it was there,as i reached the bridge it appeared again and flew back over the canal and straight away it dived into the grass out of sight for 3 minutes. the owl then took off and headed for one of the fence posts behind the colliery,where but for a brief flight it sat for the next 40 minutes.the owl was mobbed by two magpies ,one of which at times sat about 18 inches away from the owl on the wire part of the fence. at this time the magpies attention was drawn away from the owl to the next but one fence post where a kestrel had perched,he did not have the patience of the owl and flew off low over the field. what really hit me was how relaxed the bird was ,lots of dog walkers, a lady on a horse, some kids laughing and playing with a dog, the noise of the tip. the birds eyes seemed to be closing as if it was dozing on more than one occasion. would a wild owl behave like this?. any way i left at 1455 ,ten minutes after the owl had flown off towards the tip. did anybody see it hunt later?. ps please excuse my grammar.

I went to have another look at the Barn Owl this afternoon. It turned up at 2.55 pm and caught prey straight away which it took to its favourite post to eat. Pete Berry turned up and we both commented how dark in colour the bird was on its back, its front was the normal light colours.
As mentioned before it is missing a couple of primarys from its left wing but this does not really affect it too much in flight.

It took flight again when disturbed by a lady walking her dog and disappeared for 5 minutes only to return to catch more prey which kept the Owl low down in the grass for some time before it started to hunt again.

I decided to move near the canal bridge at the end of the track for a better view and noticed another Barn Owl hunting in the field next to the canal on the left hand side of the track.Both Owls were hunting at the same time in fields each side of the track. The second Owl eventually flew over the canal towards the tip. The first Owl perched on a post about 25m away and I clearly again saw through my scope that it was wearing what are called on the falconry websites as a pair of permanent hunting anklets on its legs. I am certain that this Owl is an escapee , it is also an excellent hunter as it made two more kills before I left.

Thanks to Pete for posting about this owl.

-- Edited by Dave Thacker at 20:36, 2007-11-26

At least 20 pairs bred in GMC this year Simon. The one you saw will be a truly wild owl!
The Mosslands BO Conservation Group has over 50 boxes up now (thanks to grants from GMEU and Chris Johnson's factory) and expects more to be inhabitated next year.

I did notice the bird missing some primaries on its left wing but didn't notice it wearing any leather! - however it was getting quite dark when it appeared - oh dear, maybe not a county tick after all then! Anyone know where there's any 100% nailed on legitimate wild Barn Owls?

There was a barn owl which escaped in the worsley area 2 or3 months ago. having witnessed my first wild barn owl encounter yesterday,it really was magical,the way the bird searched every inch of the field methodically . very simarlar to a hunting bat. having searched the mosses around southport for several years i never thought i would lose my barn owl virginity so close to home. many thanks again to mr berry.

I assume it's not the sort of thing you get on a wild bird. It certainly gets the heart rate going though when they fly close. It's not as easy as you would think to pick up as they fly by. There was a barn owl last june at Tandle Hill in Oldham, and it wasn't until we all looked at our photos that we noticed something on it's legs. It was still a fabulous bird to watch though. I'll send the photo to Ian if he wants to put it on temporarily for illustration. Maybe there's more than one bird, so perhaps it could be checked.
Cheers
Steve

The Barn Owl put on an excellent display of hunting this afternoon. It turned up at 3.15pm and spent most of the next hour catching 4 rodents including a very large vole which the bird struggled to swallow in one go and it spent 2 minutes on the ground in full view trying to gulp it down.

I did notice that the Owl was wearing what looked like a leather bracelet with a brass ring attached on each leg. I think that falconers use them for easy release when hunting with birds of prey. Its possible that this Owl is an escapee.

It was also good to meet Moorman and friends and the other people who stopped for a chat while we watched the owl.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 19:59, 2007-11-29

Pete

Thanks for the tip on the Barn Owl.

Showede very well this morning and flew within 10 feet - superb views.

Mike

Mr Barny showing well this morning 0645(by moonlight) till 0730 at least. Has a couple of primary feathers missing from left wing. Seems to have to flap more than normal and glides with its left wing held higher than the right. Doesnt have any problem feeding though-seen with a large mouse at 0730.

Barn Owl showing well in field behind the colliery again this afternoon, although it didn't appear until 16:15. Thanks to Pete Berry for the info - a big help to 'easterners' like myself to know where to look for this species - a county tick for me!

Simon Hitchen

watched the barn owl hunting this morning 7.20 am till 7.50 am on rhs field behind colliery.

I Just missed it then!!! I got there at 3pm and stayed till dusk-no sign. All the locals told me it was there yesterday, and even pointed out which piece of the railings it was sat on

went down today 10 o clock ish no sign of the owl but i did go the wrong side of the canal .nether the less its a superperb habitat may try tommorow, thanks for the info pete. ps.its my first post on this brill site

You should NEVER let work get in the way of birding.

gutted had made plans to get across today but work got in the way

Out at 2.30pm today

Showed well again this afty from 3pm till dusk

If anyone wants to see Barn Owl there's one which shows well most evening from 3.30pmish and also sometimes early morning .Go down Higher Green Lane,Astley and park on Whitehead Lane(on the left hand side,about 300yds down).Go through the side of the large metal gate and check the fields on the rhs behind the old colliery.Tonight it was sat on a fence post at the back of the colliery,but can also be seen hunting these fields.Also been a couple of Stonechats in the fieldsPete Berry

-- Edited by pete berry at 20:01, 2007-11-21