"return of the eagle owl" anyone see it last night?

[danny boi 0]

was flicking through the tv last night and found this programme on "eden" about a pair of wild eagle owls (maybe once captive) living and breeding in yorkshire. so far they've raised 23 young. the show was saying about how they could spread right across the uk

 

was a very interesting programme but think it might be a couple of years old.

 

cheers

Dan

[ozzieowl 53]

so it a few weeks back nice to see there moving round the country,cheers john.

[the ratcatcher 1]

the eagle owls have been living and breeding in the wild in this country for some years now and there have been many articles about them over the years where people say they are attacking them but they forget to mention that the owls are nesting and rearing young at the time and these people are usually walking their dogs and either the person or the dog or both but usually its the dog getting to close to the nesting site. and with these not being native to this country it is legal to collect them from the wild but anyone who hasnt seen one of these birds who is thinking of goin getting one should think twice lol i have one which i have had for a number of years now these birds have a wingspan of 6 and a half feet when mine comes on my arm her tallons go right around my arm when she jumps onto a rabbit you carnt see much of the rabbit this bird is more that capable of taking rabbit/hare/pheasant/young lambs/cats and certainly anything smaller i have seen them flying free in scotland

[danny boi 0]

very good to see theyre spreading but it said on the show there is a large amount of resistance from people worried about pets.

ive seen them at shows ratcatcher but never been up close an personal i can imagine they are massive and quite intimidating! ive also heard about hunts using them as a sort of loophole to dispatch fox anyone know how true that is?

 

Dan

[the ratcatcher 1]

very good to see theyre spreading but it said on the show there is a large amount of resistance from people worried about pets.

ive seen them at shows ratcatcher but never been up close an personal i can imagine they are massive and quite intimidating! ive also heard about hunts using them as a sort of loophole to dispatch fox anyone know how true that is?

 

Dan

 

ive not heard of them being used for that but i know at the shows they usually use male birds as they are smaller and easier to handle so the people at the shows tell me i have a female and yes she is large and very tempermental and two years ago she was tryin her best to get at my borderlakey that was an experience as i didnt expect it at the time and my dog was just as game trying to get the bird

[DUCKWING 302]

YES EAGLE OWLS ARE BREEDING ...... AND THE RSPB ARENT VERY PLEASED !

 

EAGLE OWLS ARE KNOWN APPARENTLY TO KILL OTHER RAPTORS AND THE RSPB OFFICAL I BUMPED INTO WAS WANTING A CULL " BEFORE IT BECAME IMPOSSIBLE " AS HE WAS SURE THEY HAD TAKEN A NESTING PAIR OF GOSHAWKS . HOW TRUE THAT WAS I CANNOT SAY .....

HE ALSO WENT ON TO TELL ME THEY WERE ACTIVELY NEEDLING SPARROWHAWK EGGS IN AN ATTEMPT TO REDUCE NUMBERS AND SO HELP GROUND NESTING WADERS IN THAT AREA .....

 

IT SEEMS THAT THE RSPB ..... IS AS TWO FACED AS THEY COME

 

THEY ARE ALLOWED TO KILL TROUBLESOME PESTS ...... BUT NO ONE ELSE IS !!!

 

DUCKWING

[danny boi 0]

sounds like a game bird ratcatcher! im desperate to get into falconry and id love an eagle owl but dont have the oppertunity at the min do you fly her often?

 

that sounds similar to the views of some guys on this program duckwing they wern't happy and apparently over in holland they have been taking the odd buzzard to eat as there arnt many bunnies about surely tho if we used to have an abundance of eagle owls that were persecuted to near enough extinction in this country then it shouldnt be too much of a bad thing to have them back! its not as if there arnt enough rabbits and hares etc for them to prey on

 

Dan

[the ratcatcher 1]

no i dont take her out flying in the open because of how she is when people ask me i usually say its like a typical woman with pmt lol there are day i can go in with her and she will come on the hand quite readily but other days she is having none of it so now she just flies in her flight as i wouldnt like to take her out then have her start with one of her moods then take off, then a couple of days later have some irrate people knocking on my door cos its had someones cat or poodle lol.

 

i got into it cos someone brought me a injured buzzard which cost me £350 at the vets to have its wing fixed and although your not allowed to take buzzards from the wild as they are protected the vet got onto deffra for me.

but if things go wrong as with any animal they can cost you a packet at the vets

[danny boi 0]

ha ha sounds like my missus!!! yeah ive heard it can get expensive, ive loved the idea of falconry since i was about 10 but unfortunately me parents dont have the same veiws so looks like ive got to wait untill im in me own place!

 

an old friend of mine has a couple of birds but dont get the chance to get out with him anymore lol what type of weight is she?

 

heard a story bout a guy that was flyin a goldie in scotland when it got into a fight with a wild goldie he got on to defra they ok'd him to take it home an look after it but then he was raided by the police arrested and they took the bird and it ended up dead from lead poisoning from the rspb feeding shot rabbits you'd think they'd now better!

 

cheers

dan

[EskdaleHawks 8]

European Eagle Owls (EEO's) have been breeding in the wild in the UK for quite a number of years now. The program described is certainly a few years old. In the wild EEO's, main quarry as the film suggests is Rabbit, but they will take other prey items and this includes raptors which is why the RSPB have concerns. They have already been filmed taking and killing Hen Harriers, I believe in the Trough of Bowland in Lancashire? That said the European Eagle Owl now has protected status thanks to the RSPB so they only have theirselves to blame, and it is therefore NOT legal to take EEO's from the wild. Interesting to hear about the RSPB actively "Pricking" eggs, though!!! The RSPB kept quiet about a pair of EEO's nesting in the Geltsdale reserve, Cumbria this year because, " They were vulnerable from nest thieves"! But decided to publish that a pair of rare Purple Herons had nested on the reserve for the first time ever in Britain?? Why? The answer probably lies with the fact that the "Rare" Hen Harriers havn't bred for a while, and that if the harriers went missing then it would be all to easy to point the accusing finger at the gamekeeping fraternity and sporting estates in that area. Good to hear that they are making a comeback after a long abscence from these islands.

[trappa 518]

was flicking through the tv last night and found this programme on "eden" about a pair of wild eagle owls (maybe once captive) living and breeding in yorkshire. so far they've raised 23 young. the show was saying about how they could spread right across the uk

 

was a very interesting programme but think it might be a couple of years old.

 

cheers

Dan

Ye, im close to the nesting site. After the programe originally aired someone shot one of the pair. arseholes.

[the ratcatcher 1]

European Eagle Owls (EEO's) have been breeding in the wild in the UK for quite a number of years now. The program described is certainly a few years old. In the wild EEO's, main quarry as the film suggests is Rabbit, but they will take other prey items and this includes raptors which is why the RSPB have concerns. They have already been filmed taking and killing Hen Harriers, I believe in the Trough of Bowland in Lancashire? That said the European Eagle Owl now has protected status thanks to the RSPB so they only have theirselves to blame, and it is therefore NOT legal to take EEO's from the wild. Interesting to hear about the RSPB actively "Pricking" eggs, though!!! The RSPB kept quiet about a pair of EEO's nesting in the Geltsdale reserve, Cumbria this year because, " They were vulnerable from nest thieves"! But decided to publish that a pair of rare Purple Herons had nested on the reserve for the first time ever in Britain?? Why? The answer probably lies with the fact that the "Rare" Hen Harriers havn't bred for a while, and that if the harriers went missing then it would be all to easy to point the accusing finger at the gamekeeping fraternity and sporting estates in that area. Good to hear that they are making a comeback after a long abscence from these islands.

 

cheers for letting us know that EH when did they get the protected status i hadnt heard of that even though every so often i get the police knocking on my door to check my bird

[the ratcatcher 1]

was flicking through the tv last night and found this programme on "eden" about a pair of wild eagle owls (maybe once captive) living and breeding in yorkshire. so far they've raised 23 young. the show was saying about how they could spread right across the uk

 

was a very interesting programme but think it might be a couple of years old.

 

cheers

Dan

Ye, im close to the nesting site. After the programe originally aired someone shot one of the pair. arseholes.

 

f****rs i love goin out and just sitting watching the birds of prey fly ive been out ferreting before now put my nets on the just lay back on the grass watching the buzzards flying must on been lay there half an hour lol then i remembered what i was there for and pulled a few bunnies out

[EskdaleHawks 8]

European Eagle Owls (EEO's) have been breeding in the wild in the UK for quite a number of years now. The program described is certainly a few years old. In the wild EEO's, main quarry as the film suggests is Rabbit, but they will take other prey items and this includes raptors which is why the RSPB have concerns. They have already been filmed taking and killing Hen Harriers, I believe in the Trough of Bowland in Lancashire? That said the European Eagle Owl now has protected status thanks to the RSPB so they only have theirselves to blame, and it is therefore NOT legal to take EEO's from the wild. Interesting to hear about the RSPB actively "Pricking" eggs, though!!! The RSPB kept quiet about a pair of EEO's nesting in the Geltsdale reserve, Cumbria this year because, " They were vulnerable from nest thieves"! But decided to publish that a pair of rare Purple Herons had nested on the reserve for the first time ever in Britain?? Why? The answer probably lies with the fact that the "Rare" Hen Harriers havn't bred for a while, and that if the harriers went missing then it would be all to easy to point the accusing finger at the gamekeeping fraternity and sporting estates in that area. Good to hear that they are making a comeback after a long abscence from these islands.

 

cheers for letting us know that EH when did they get the protected status i hadnt heard of that even though every so often i get the police knocking on my door to check my bird

 

I think they have had full protected staus for a couple of years. Not sure when though. Every captive EEO should be closed rung, registered and have an A10 when it is sold. Best to get them microchipped as well as this can save a lot of hassel.

[Brandybabe 0]

Saw the programme a few years ago, its good! There is a lot going around on facebook about a EEO cull being iminent, but if they are protected then how can they do that, there are probably a lot more Harris Hawks and the like out there killing wild birds! Not to mention the wild birds of prey getting into tussles with falconers birds!

Carol