Have you seen Dundee's eagle owl? — unusual visitor touches down in the city
A Dundee family have described their surprise after waking up to find a large eagle owl perched in a tree in their garden in Kirkton.
Lorrayne Holt's photo of the owl in her garden at the weekend.
- By Andrew Argo
- Published in the Courier : 18.01.12
- Published online : 18.01.12 @ 05.47pm
Kelsy Holt (13) was wakened by its hooting on Saturday morning and called for her mother, Lorrayne.
''I went to see what all the fuss was about and there on the tree was this big owl," said Lorrayne. ''I looked at its features and checked on the internet, and it was an eagle owl.
''The first thing you noticed was its size and then when you studied it more closely you could see it was impressive. Its appearance was quite stunning.
''It was perched on a tree in our garden about 20 feet off the ground and stayed there for several hours, not leaving until the afternoon.
"It was there all day just sitting and watching. Other birds were making loads of noise — I think they were trying to scare it off."
A Cardross Street resident said he and his neighbour heard it hooting on Monday night and again on Tuesday morning.
Other sightings have been reported in the Clepington area, and it is thought the bird may be nesting in the area of the former Graham Street campus of Dundee College.
The eagle owl is the largest member of the owl family. With prominent ear tufts, a 6ft wingspan, a body length of 2ft 6in and the ability to kill birds as large as herons and animals as big as roe deer, the eagle owl nests from Spain in the south to Russia in the north.
It was absent from Britain until about 15 years ago when several pairs of the birds began to nest.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds say they are impressive creatures, but are not native to Britain and their impact on native fauna is not known.
The eagle owl in Dundee is believed to have escaped from a falconry, but its large flight range makes it hard to know from where. No local wildlife centres keep eagle owls.
08.06pm - 18.01.2012 Graeme Lawrence - Dundee, Sotland Report This
The owl was in Graham street last night sitting proud as punch on top of the Church spire. What a noise and it looked a big beast.
10.14am - 19.01.2012 Dr.R D. Devine - Edmonton, Canada Report This
Could be the owl Jim Cornfoot nursed back to health some years ago. He found it injured in the Aviemore region. It escaped its tether and flew free after it recovered.
11.24am - 19.01.2012 Andrew Downie - Aberdeen, UK Report This
This thing divebombed me on Woodside Terrace last night at about 10:30pm, it's MASSIVE!
12.11pm - 19.01.2012 Kimber - Dundee, Tayside Report This
It's huuuuge! Are there any more pictures of it?
04.43pm - 19.01.2012 ciara barclay (14) - dundee, scotland Report This
eagle owls would normally rest on cliff faces or occasionaly in dese foliage ide expect this one to be looking for somwhere with more cover places such as templeton around downfield golfcourse area the prey there would be ideal for a bird this sise it could also be tempted by claverhouses forest
05.01pm - 20.01.2012 Edward Finnie - DUNDEE, United Kingdom Report This
I seen it yesterday sitting on the top of the chimney stack of Graham Street College, my wife seen it on Sunday i thought she was kidding me on when she told me the size of it, when it flew off the chimney i was surprised at the wingspan it is huge,doe's anyone know if it would attack a small dog.
09.45am - 21.01.2012 Kim - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Has anyone managed to get more pictues of it in the Dundee area? Will it survive if it stays here?
10.34pm - 21.01.2012 Barry shaw - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Wonder what the owls eating,these birds in the wild eat things up to the size of foxes,if anyone has cats in the area I would keep an eye on them
07.26pm - 28.01.2012 Barry shaw - Dundee, Angus Report This
Can anyone tell me if the eagle owl is still there and when they lasst seen it .thanks
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