Trouble is Henry, that the wrong sort always find out in the end, that and in past circumstances it's been people you'd have thought would have know better who have been responsible for the problems!
I seems there's no roost anyway as the 'gen' trail has gone very cold. More peering into Hawthorns and the like if anyone wants to find any.
The only one I know of is, as Ian quite rightly says at Pennington.
I would be grateful Ian if you could let me know if you have any further info on this or anywhere else.]
I would love to get a LEO on my county year list again after a couple of years without seeing one, although I do of course understand the difficulties of letting the whereabouts of a roost be known.
Pity we all have to suffer because of the minority!!!
Long-eared Owl chicks are sought after by collectors as the species does not breed well in captivity. Therefore, as roosts may be near breeding areas, details of sites (unless inaccessible) are not normally put in the public domain.
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Judith Smith
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Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
Talking to the regulars this morning nobody had heard anything lately (and certainly not seen one) and as Ian said, the last (known) one was the one seen from the New Hide, which was last April.
Interesting Phil, I hadn't heard of it but hopefully someone out there will. Either way, releasing of the location of any Longie roost should be given very serious consideration as roosts in the county previously have suffered abuse by birders and photographers attempting to get better views etc. The most recent roost at Pennington was across from new hide in an area unreachable by birders so was ideal for release, but any roost in an accessible area (such as the very old roost alongside the main path by Rammies) should be thought through before releasing the news.
Wherever possible the location will be released as Longies are very sought after by county birders, but their welfare is absolutely paramount. Before releasing the news of any roosts, observers should preferably contact someone to check with first. Peter Alker at the visitor centre at Pennington should he be in, myself or county recorder Judith Smith to name afew!
