“It’s been there for a few days, apparently”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/oct/10/wildlife-conservation . But I first heard this morning. Someone took me round the side of the building where I work and there it was. So big and powerful, I could hardly believe it. Snoozing for now, oblivious to the stream of people passing by to take a look. You almost wonder whether small children would be safe in the vicinity. Not the kind of thing you ordinarily see in the middle of an English city.
Update: I took some pictures this morning ….
{ 19 comments }
matt 10.21.08 at 1:49 pm
They are impressive birds. The article worries about it eating local fowl but none of the wikipedia articles I could find suggest the do. I’d think rather it might help with the squire problems. (At Penn the local Hawks sometimes swoop down on the numerous squires- quite a sight to see.) I hope it won’t be killed.
Ben Alpers 10.21.08 at 2:20 pm
Growing up in Berkeley, Calif., in the 1970s, I had a friend with a beautiful wooded backyard. One day, a brown wood owl showed up in it. Nobody could figure out how this Asian bird had suddenly appeared in Berkeley. When the bird showed up, my friend’s family called the Audubon Society, which identified it, put out an all-points bulletin to see if any such owl had escaped from captivity nearby (none had as far as they could tell), and finally recommended simply feeding it as long as it was around. So for a long time (several years, if I remember correctly, though I was a small child so time moved more slowly then), my friends family would leave chicken parts out on their deck and “Owly” would swoop down and eat them.
derek 10.21.08 at 2:44 pm
I’d think rather it might help with the squire problems.
Yes, those local landowning gentry can be quite a pest, any predator we can import to keep their numbers down is welcome.
More seriously, I don’t think large rare animals are a threat to small numerous ones, I think it’s the other way round.
Nick 10.21.08 at 2:51 pm
Yes, those local landowning gentry can be quite a pest, any predator we can import to keep their numbers down is welcome.
May I suggest a hand-tooled ash pitchfork? That would make for a superior, artisanally crafted sort of jacquerie . . .
Rich Puchalsky 10.21.08 at 4:40 pm
I wonder if there is any type of megafauna that is not actually charismatic.
Righteous Bubba 10.21.08 at 4:50 pm
The Great Farting Walrus of the Scab Archipelago.
john b 10.21.08 at 4:51 pm
Dugong?
ajay 10.21.08 at 5:17 pm
Dugongs are great! They just lie around in warm water eating and occasionally swimming a few lazy strokes, then returning to eat more. I regard them as a role model.
Hyaenas aren’t very charismatic; nor, I should think, pariah dogs or dingos.
White-tailed eagles (recently reintroduced to Scotland) have been spotted in Kent, giving rise to rumours that they might take small children from prams.
SamChevre 10.21.08 at 6:22 pm
I would love to see that.
It’s about the size of a small bald eagle, which are not uncommon around here–but I think owls are cooler than hawks.
roac 10.21.08 at 7:24 pm
I have read that there is at least one documented case of a human being killed by this bird’s North American equivalent, the Great Horned Owl. The victim was wearing a fur cap in the woods at night, and the owl, mistaking it for prey, swooped down and put a talon through his skull at the temple.
I’m sorry to hear that the native population of these guys is gone from Britain. We’re luckier here — the Great Horned is quite tolerant of humans.
(The petty officers of HMS Surprise, I am reminded, met an Eagle Owl in the Egyptian desert. They thought it was a djinn.)
ingrid robeyns 10.21.08 at 8:12 pm
I’m going to keep my 9-months old inside.
klajsdhf 10.21.08 at 8:53 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Eagle-owl
You have one at the Bristol zoo (or did)
Zamfir 10.22.08 at 7:18 am
Apparently the Latin name for this beast is Bubo Bubo, where I guess Bubo is simply Latin for owl. Sounds as if the Romans called it after its call too.
Stuart 10.22.08 at 12:12 pm
I’m sorry to hear that the native population of these guys is gone from Britain.
The article refers to them as an alien species, wouldn’t that suggest there wasn’t a native population to have gone?
Jackmormon 10.22.08 at 12:53 pm
I wonder if there is any type of megafauna that is not actually charismatic.
Elephant seals are certainly impressive, but I wouldn’t precisely call them charismatic.
Alex 10.22.08 at 2:33 pm
I saw this owl for myself yesterday. It’s massive.
Danielle Day 10.22.08 at 2:42 pm
Very impressive hyenas
http://www.pieterhugo.com/nigeria/index.html
Anderson 10.22.08 at 10:52 pm
How did “bubo” = owl and “buboe” = swollen plague-infected discoloration?
qb 10.23.08 at 1:14 pm
Beautiful.
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