Owls Around the World

[fireblade1]

Saw three, but there are at least four or five, I think

[mei2k]

Oh my god! That face! It's so cute

[macdoum]

There is a cam live;

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/owlceanside
Maybe you have this link already

Photos taken today,I think;
http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr18 ... cMar24.jpg?

[fireblade1]

I missed the banding and do not know how many owlets are still there. Three, four or five

[ame]

on the front page there's tawny owl news today: a tawny owlet has been found exceptionally early and taken into custody. http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/9773

the news also says that similar early tawny owl-nestings are reported in mid-city Helsinki this spring. i haven't heard of those, but three weeks ago there was news about an eagle-owl family right in the city centre

picture C: Marja Saarinen, published in Ilta-Sanomat

i'll try to find something in English about them.... here we go: the newsletter by the Ornithological society in Helsinki Tringa:
http://www.tringa.fi/fi/uutiset/tuoreim ... sinki.html

[vainamoinen]

on the front page there's tawny owl news today: a tawny owlet has been found exceptionally early and taken into custody. http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/9773

the news also says that similar early tawny owl-nestings are reported in mid-city Helsinki this spring. i haven't heard of those, but three weeks ago there was news about an eagle-owl family right in the city centre

picture C: Marja Saarinen, published in Ilta-Sanomat

i'll try to find something in English about them.... here we go: the newsletter by the Ornithological society in Helsinki Tringa:
http://www.tringa.fi/fi/uutiset/tuoreim ... sinki.html

There is some mismatches between texts in Estonian and English. In Estionian text there is written about "kassikakk" - "eagle- owl", bet in English there is mentioned "tawny owl". So maybe there was meant same case with eagle-owl family.

[ame]

There is some mismatches between texts in Estonian and English. In Estionian text there is written about "kassikakk" - "eagle- owl", bet in English there is mentioned "tawny owl". So maybe there was meant same case with eagle-owl family.

'kassikakk' is 'cat-owl' if translated directly. in Swedish and in Finnish the tawny owl has been called 'cat-owl', in Swedish 'kattuggla' and in Finnish 'kissapöllö'. the word 'owl' is 'uggla' in Swedish and 'pöllö' in Finnish. the cat is called 'kasi' in some dialects in Finnish, but the "normal" word is 'kissa'.

in my Finnish ears the word 'kakk' has always sounded humorous, because it resembles the words 'kako' and 'kahko' which mean 'stupid' or 'daft' in Finnish. the word 'pöllö' is used in the same meaning in Finnish. i have no idea why owls have been considered as synonyms of stupid in Finnish though.

[Liis]

Sorry, Vanamoinen & Ame - of course kassikakk, however insignificant it may sound in Estonian (Cat owl) is in fact the magnificent eagle owl.
Thanks!
In fact there is an eagle owl camera since several years showing eagle owls in the old copper mine in Falun http://www.freasp.com/uv
Sometimes awsome close-ups, more often distant views.

EDIT: Right, the eagle owl has its own proper English name now on LK front page
http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/9773
But the text is a bit ambiguous: are all owls breeding earlier in cities? in Helsinki? eagle owls? tawny owls?
EDIT 2: The eagle owls in Falun have been seen mating, have a nest, and have "started the breeding season", probably on March 10. Not sure about eggs, the Swedish "häckning" means breeding period in general, incubating would be "ruvning", and the eagle owl diary is rather precisely written.

[vainamoinen]

ok, so it may be a mistake in the translation. maybe i should drop a line to the translator...

'kassikakk' is 'cat-owl' if translated directly. in Swedish and in Finnish the tawny owl has been called 'cat-owl', in Swedish 'kattuggla' and in Finnish 'kissapöllö'. the word 'owl' is 'uggla' in Swedish and 'pöllö' in Finnish. the cat is called 'kasi' in some dialects in Finnish, but the "normal" word is 'kissa'.

in my Finnish ears the word 'kakk' has always sounded humorous, because it resembles the words 'kako' and 'kahko' which mean 'stupid' or 'daft' in Finnish. the word 'pöllö' is used in the same meaning in Finnish. i have no idea why owls have been considered as synonyms of stupid in Finnish though.

In Latvian "kakk" also sounds humorous because it resembles "kaka" - "sugar". If I remember correctly there was information in forum that word "kassikakk" is explained so that it's owl that could easy prey a cat.

[ame]

In Latvian "kakk" also sounds humorous because it resembles "kaka" - "sugar". If I remember correctly there was information in forum that word "kassikakk" is explained so that it's owl that could easy prey a cat.

yeah, poop is 'kakka' in Finnish, too! why didn't i think of that?!
if i remember right it's about the same word in many languages... like mamma.

[ame]

Sorry, Vanamoinen & Ame - of course kassikakk, however insignificant it may sound in Estonian (Cat owl) is in fact the magnificent eagle owl.
Thanks!
.....

EDIT: Right, the eagle owl has its own proper English name now on LK front page
http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/9773
But the text is a bit ambiguous: are all owls breeding earlier in cities? in Helsinki? eagle owls? tawny owls?
.......

you're welcome Liis!

eagle-owls breeding in cities is a brand new phenomenon altogether in Finland. it has been coming for some time though, since eagle-owls have settled to live in cities in the past few years. the nest reported here is the first known case in Finland. i think this timing is quite 'normal'... maybe i should check that..?

[Liis]

---------------------------------------
If I remember correctly there was information in forum that word "kassikakk" is explained so that it's owl that could easy prey a cat.

It can probably grab a smallish dog - two years ago dog owners were warned not to walk their pets around the Falu copper mines during the nesting season. They would certainly attack a dog intruding on their territory, or a human.

[ame]

ok, i read from the book "Suomen pöllöt" (Finnish owls, ed. p. Saurola) in an article by Pentti Kalinainen, that the eagle-owls may start laying eggs in the beginning of March but the timing may vary a lot: the season for laying may be up to 2 months. then the female incubates for 7 weeks, starting with the first egg. in this light the clutch in Helsinki is early indeed, because the chicks are so big already in the in early March!

the chicks hatch at the same 2 to 3-day intervals as the eggs have been laid. they are quite helpless in the beginning and the mother has to keep them warm and dry. the eyes of the chicks open when they are one week old and their white down begins to get a brownish-yellowish tone at the age of three weeks. at the age of four week feathers begin to grow and the mother can leave the chicks alone in the daytime. the male feeds the female during incubation and in the early weeks both chicks and female.

[Liis]

A pair of eagle owls nested and bred young for some years in Stockholm, in an old brick gasworks structure, some 15 years ago roughly around when the "Nationalstadsparken", the "Urban National Park" was proclaimed. The female was named Görel for the then Minister of the Environment who passed the national park law. Her (the eagle owl's) mate perished about 5 years after that and since then no free eagle owls nesting in Stockholm.

[Bosuil]

Thanks Ame for posting that beautiful picture of the Helsinki Eagle Owl! I read about them last year, but had forgotten to check again.

[fireblade1]

[mei2k]

Oceanside barn owls

[ame]

there are some more news of the eagleowlets in the citycentre of Helsinki:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/Forum ... 56929.html

there's a short video clip and some still pictures. they are trying their wings. the public has been warned that should an owlet fall on top on one's head (or should one find any bird of prey!) one should not touch or even approach the owlet, because the parent eagleowl may attack and cause severe injuries. these owls are not afraid of human beings! instead one should call 112 for assistance.

the BirdLife Finland and the local Helsinki area ornithological society arranged a viewing of the owl family at the roof terrace of the opposite building yesterday. a crowd of about 200 people came to watch the eagleowl-family's life during the 2-hour watch.

just looking at the pictures and seeing the video here makes it rather clear what is the origin of the folk stories of mountain elves and trolls in the forest.

[ame]

Tringa is the ornithological society in the Helsinki area, and of course they have forum pages for the city owls in Helsinki. i should have found these pages earlier:
http://www.tringa.fi/fi/foorumi/func,vi ... itstart,0/

unfortunately people write there in Finnish but there are plenty of pictures of the three owlets on the roof terrace. the was an article in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat today saying that the owlets are doing their wing exercises eagerily and they can glide distances of about two meters. they have already moved to another level on the terraced roofs there. no people are a bit worried that when will they drop off the roof down into the Mannerheimintie-street which is one of the busiest main-streets in Helsinki.

people are adviced not to touch an owlet on the ground because a parent owl may attack with severe concequences. instead people should call the police or 112 (the universal emegency number) to get help there.

the 'natural' habitat of eagleowls is rocky hillside wilderness with steep slopes in thick forests with old trees. there the nest is usually on the ground beside a big rock or a rootball of a fallen tree, partly in cover. i found this picture showing a rather typical normal nest site:
Copyrigth Olli Korhonen

the owlets begin gradually to roam around and away from the nest and disperse on foot in the surroundings, when they still can't fly at all. - it'll be interesting to see what kind of a traffic chaos there will be in Helsinki when these kids from the Foorum roof terrace start roaming the streets.

[ame]

on Saturday some overly eager eagleowl fans penetrated the rooftop inhabited by the owlets through windows, apparently for taking pictures of them from a short distance. there were two adult men and two underaged boys who were mostly reaching out through the windows and took pictures. one boy even climbed on the roof itself. that was very thoughtless...

this picture is borrowed fron Tringa's forum-pages. it's taken by Marjalintu.