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TeaLovingDave

European Scops Owl (Otus scops) in Ryhope Village Dene, Co. Durham - 05/10/2017

European Scops Owl (Otus scops) in Ryhope Village Dene, Co. Durham - 05/10/2017
TeaLovingDave, 6 Oct 2017
Maguari, LaughingDove and Chlidonias like this.
    • TeaLovingDave
      This very lovely little bird has been present in Ryhope, a village just south of Sunderland, for over a week now - I finally managed to get out there today in order to see this species for the first time in the wild; a wild tick which is all the more special given the fact that this individual is the first European Scops Owl recorded from the UK mainland for a decade.
    • Chlidonias
      That's cool. How many people were there?
    • TeaLovingDave
      Maybe eight or nine people - as noted above it has been present for a while now, and I believe it was drawing *much* bigger crowds initially :p this being one of the reasons why I hadn't tried to see it previously, along with the fact that once things settled down a little I ended up only having free time on those days where it wasn't reported and was (incorrectly) believed to have gone.

      Moreover, I prefer to pick stuff up on a casual basis and don't go in for "twitching"; this is only the second rare bird I have actively sought out subsequent to sightings being reported, after a Pacific Diver at the start of this year :p given I have a particular liking for owls, and this one is only 40 minutes on public transport from my flat, I decided it was worth making an exception for this one!
    • LaughingDove
      I'd heard about this bird, awesome twitch!

      How far away was it? Did you need a scope to see it properly?
    • Maguari
      Great stuff - I wondered if you'd been to see this!
    • TeaLovingDave
      @LaughingDove - it was in plain view, perhaps 20 feet away from me :) so I only needed my binoculars to get a good look at it, and I had no trouble photographing it. Due to the position of the tree where it was perched in relation to a railway embankment and the public footpath emerging from a tunnel under the railway line, it was able to sit very visibly whilst ensuring it was impossible for anyone to stray close enough to flush it.
      LaughingDove likes this.
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  • Category:
    United Kingdom - Wildlife
    Uploaded By:
    TeaLovingDave
    Date:
    6 Oct 2017
    View Count:
    1,233
    Comment Count:
    6

    EXIF Data

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    6.9 MB
    Mime Type:
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    Height:
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    Aperture:
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    Make:
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    Model:
    DMC-TZ60
    Date / Time:
    2017:10:05 14:18:13
    Exposure Time:
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    ISO Speed Rating:
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    Focal Length:
    129 mm
     

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