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Snowy Owl in North Norfolk; Rare Visit
Topic Started: Mar 11 2018, 04:45 PM (162 Views)
Grayling
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I read this in the EDP earlier today.

Are you due in Norfolk soon Dave? I wonder if it will still be around for you if you are.

A snowy owl has made an “extremely rare” visit to Norfolk this weekend - thousands of miles away from its usual feeding ground.



http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/bird-watchers-snettisham-owl-norfolk-1-5429512
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JennyWren
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What a sighting that must be Grayling :cool3: . If it was an escapee , i'm guessing it would have a leg ringed . There must be hundreds of people descending on the area :yes:
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celticsparrow-Jan
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Grayling we were hoping to see it but Dave tells me it has been scared off by people with huge cameras getting to close to it. :gaah:
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JennyWren
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I'm not surprised Jan :groan:
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Grayling
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Oh for goodness sake, surely if you have a huge lens that would mean you wouldn't need to get up so close - people like that really don't do themselves any favours :angry:
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AnnB
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What a great shame, with any luck it'll turn up again nearby.
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accipiter
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I cannot say I am all that surprised given my own experiences here, it would some things 'never change'.

Alan
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Jane
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Oh dear, bye bye Snowy Owl! Such a beautiful Bird :)

:thanks: for the link Grayling
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Davebutterflyman
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We have been watching this with great interest and are keeping our fingers crossed that it is still there when we go to Norfolk this coming Saturday.

The owl has been at a few locations since it was found and has spent time on Titchwell beach and around Thornham harbour and point. Unfortunately though, certain photographers decided that their only thought was to get as close to the bird as possible to get those 'cover magazine' quality images. Upon doing so, the bird was disturbed and it flew off, upon which it started to to fly back and forth to the previous sites it had been seen at, becoming increasingly skittish as a result of the disturbance.

Then yesterday, two more photographers decided to try to get even closer and again, the bird flew off. It wasn't picked up at all early this morning until much later on when it was found at RSPB Snettisham, much further around the coast, and it has been showing really well since.

Now, i'm going to really rant here and say that in general, Snowy Owls usually stay close to an area and can be quite happy to do so, one particular Snowy Owl stayed in very much the same position it was found in when first located on St Martin's in the Isles Of Scilly last December. If it wasn't for these photographers (not all behave in this manner) i believe that this owl could have stayed local to this part of the coast for quite a while, giving everyone a fair chance to see this magnificent bird.

It is highly likely that this bird could have been exhausted after a long journey (although there is talk that it could even be the bird that was on the scillies) but we aren't to know that for sure and therefore, the welfare of the bird should be absolutely paramount without any exception. This has sadly not been the case due to a minority of people that quite obviously don't give a stuff for the welfare of the bird. This is also not an isolated case and many will remember the fracas that took place at the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler twitch at Holkham last year and even just this very morning at Wombwell Ings in Yorkshire where a Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrest were disturbed by photographers trying to trample though undergrowth and bushes to try and get photos.

There is now a culture of 'photo first, bird welfare non-existent' in place with a minority but they are giving photographers a bad name, to the point where people are being named and shamed on social media platforms if they are deemed to be in too close proximity to a bird. I agree with this though and these people need to be told one way or the other.

On saying all of that, it has been a fantastic find and i do hope that it hangs around for another week or so. It has been a long time since i last saw a Snowy Owl (in off the sea at Bawdsey in Suffolk during the late 1990's) and i would dearly like to photograph it myself, but from a distance using a large zoom. After all, that's what i thought the idea of having these huge cannon-like lenses so you didn't need to get so close.....i must be greatly misinformed.

ps: when i say cannon-like lenses, i don't mean Canon as in the make of camera/lens as other brands are available :lol:

Many thanks for the link Grayling.

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JennyWren
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:( i don't know much about all this but what i deduce from these events , is that a good few of these people are not in the slightest concerned for the welfare of the bird ... infact if it died because of their selfish behaviour , they'd be the first on the scene and fight over who has the bird and who displays it stuffed :( Nasty people
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Jane
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Well said Dave and good luck! :cool:
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Davebutterflyman
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Thanks Jane.

The owl hasn't been seen at all this morning so far but it could just be tucked away in the undergrowth somewhere.
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Pam M
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:encore: Well said Dave. We should all respect all wildlife, their welfare comes first.

I do hope you get to see it Dave, we all know you are a responsible wildlife watcher :cool2:
I do hope someone sees it & doesn`t report it :grin:
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Davebutterflyman
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Thanks Pam.

It looks like the owl flew from Snettisham at around 6.15 last night and was heading inland, possibly towards the North Wootton area, nr Kings Lynn. It is possibly that it could head towards Lincolnshire from here but still no sightings as of yet.
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feedyourhedgehog
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Not the long lens brigade :doh: not proper birdwatchers at all :no:
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Davebutterflyman
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Indeed Paula, many of which don't even carry binoculars with them.
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feedyourhedgehog
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They take all the fun out of it don't they....we all want to see a rare bird and take a photo if we can but not so it scares the bird and prevents us normal folk taking a look :bins:
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Grayling
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Davebutterflyman
Mar 12 2018, 05:51 PM
It is possibly that it could head towards Lincolnshire from here but still no sightings as of yet.
Fingers crossed for that, we are heading up to Lincoln for a long weekend soon.

Such a shame that a few spoil if for others. :impatient:



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Davebutterflyman
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It is really unfair, they don't give a hoot (sorry!) about anyone else.

Still no sign this morning, either in Norfolk or Lincs.
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Davebutterflyman
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Looks like it has gone under the radar somewhere, possibly inland and i'm sure if it had gone up the coast it would have been spotted by now.
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