Hey, was walking at dusk this evening and heard something hissing at me from a tree, looked over and there was a giant owl looking at me, far too big to be a barn or a tawny, a car also came past and it didn't do anything but hiss, too clear things up, the owls head is at the branch he is perching on, and the tail is the thing sticking up (I thought it were ears at first!) any idea what this is? It must have been at least 1 and a half feet tall. (picture below)
Hi Crisp, I would say it is a Tawny Owl and they will have chicks at the moment; the hissing sound maybe the youngster calling it's parent. I think the part of the photo which looks like a tail sticking up are the twigs/branches behind the owl. Just be a bit wary if you are near an owl nesting site as the adults can be very very protective of their offspring and on occasion they can attack you.
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Regards, Hazel
Hi Crisp, it's really hard to get an impression of size from the photo and I've taken another much closer look; rather than owl, it could be some sort of raptor as on zoom .... the bird facing forward looks like it has it's head looking downwards and may have a broad tail with black banding at the bottom of the pic (showing either side of the bottom branch) I think we need an expert like Robbo for this one !
Hey Hazel,
if you look at the tuft of sticks on the side of the branch facing me, and look behind that, I believe that is the face of the owl, I can make out 2 black eyes and a disk shaped face,
Hi Kate, yes I agree, it did look like an owl's head, hence my first response and I'm still uncertain; it could still be an owl facing forward ....... although I can still equally see what could be a different raptor (what I thought were owl eyes then looked like the top of the raptors head as it bowed forward) - would be good to get other opinions as it's a difficult one. It is a puzzle for sure, like looking into coal flames and seeing different images lol