Loud nocturnal bird call

Around 9pm last night we heard this call from (I think) a tree at the bottom of our garden

https://sndup.net/5g6m. It's towards the end of the clip and was very loud -

Loud enough to be heard inside with doors shut (and by friends on a zoom call). It lasted for about 5-10 mins and then went quiet.

I've listened to UK owl noises and they don't seem to match. We are in the countryside in Buckinghamshire, near a small wood and lots of farmland. We have red kites and a sparrowhawk that visit plus mice/ voles and other snacks! (Also gliss gliss live in the roof/trees so odd noises/calls here aren't always birds!)

Any ideas from people would be appreciated. I'm tempted to leave a bowl of seeds and a camera out tonight and see whether I can get any pics. 

  • Hi Jen

    I think it might be the alarm call of a Tawny Owl. Not the conventional call we are used to hearing.

    I found this on xeno-canto which is the best I can come up with and sounds fairly similar I think

    Marcin Sołowiej, XC561610. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/561610

    What do you think?

  • That sounds exactly like it! Thankyou :-)
    It's quite a different noise from it's normal call isn't it!

    It might explain why I only herad that for a short time - there were 'gentler' noises later on, but I didn't match them to the same bird; he might have been spooked by something; possibly next doors cat.

    Now to try and get video/pics of it - it sounds really impressive.