eagle owl

I live in rural Somerset. Twice in the last three days I have seen a very large bird, bigger than a buzzard which we have regularly. Yesterday as I was driving slowly towards Wells it flew fairly low, about 12 - 20 metres high, straight along the road and over my car. I was able to get a good view of its head, definitely that of an owl, not a buzzard, and its wingspan was about 4 - 5 feet wide. I am told that they are used in Weston-super-Mare to discourage seagulls. Please could anyone confirm or refute my identification? Thank you.

  • http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/?p=902#more-902

    lots of interesting and controversial stuff in here, if anyone interested.

  • I was just walking my dogs in Stockhill woods, a conifer plantation near Wells. I was looking for any signs of Long-eared owls as it looked a likely winter roost. At one point e smaller dog ran back to us, ears down, looking disconcerted. AS we waked on I saw some white feathers by the side of the track, we collected them and it dawned on me it was fresh barn owl feathers, with tufts from the back/head and wings. When I looked I up just saw disappearing silently through the trees, a very large raptor carrying the barn owl in its talons. I have seen Eagle owls in the wild in similar forest in Finland, and know they are not native or widespread in the Uk, but could it have been eagle owl? I noticed a golden hue on the wings, like on some short-eared owls, but the wings seemed huge and bigger than the poor dangling barn owl, easily carried aloft.