Scops Owl: Dunvant park, Glamorgan

The Eurasian Scops owl is tiny, measuring 18-20cm, smaller in size than a Little owl. The plumage is greyish-brown. It has small ear tufts, bright yellow eyes and a grey bill. It's primarily nocturnal and usually spends the day tucked away among dense tree foliage. Breeding grounds are typically open habitats, cultivated areas with groups of trees, parks or gardens with mature trees. It's insectivorous, preying on moths, grasshoppers and beetles. It will also eat spiders, earthworms and frogs as well as small birds.

Eight years ago, in September 2017, a Eurasian Scops Owl was reported in Durham. It was found roosting in an Elder tree in an area between Ryhope Village and Ryhope Beach. It was found on the 27th September, and last seen on the 5th October. However, during the bird's eleven-day stay, it was only seen on five of these days. Various commitments and obligations prevented us from making the trip. However, on the 6th of October, we were all free and decided to make the 270-mile trip north. Upon arrival, we asked a local birder, "Any news?" and received the reply, "No sign this morning." We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon searching the surrounding areas, but eventually had to admit defeat and head home. Scops Owl is a bird I have always wanted to see, and among the birds I've twitched and failed to see, this has always remained the one that hurt the most.

Last year, we had just returned home from seeing the Yellow warbler at New Hythe when news broke of a Scops owl at Broadstairs in Kent! Although reported on several days from the first sighting up until the 9th of January, the reports were very erratic. It would be seen one day, then go missing for two days, then reappear briefly, only to go missing again. The round trip from home to Broadstairs is 180 miles and would have taken 4 hours. In the end, we decided not to go for it.

On Saturday the 6th, I was at home when news of another Scops Owl was reported, this time in a park in Glamorgan in south Wales. Today was our first opportunity to visit, and we left shortly after 9am. We had a 220-mile journey ahead of us, made more difficult by having to navigate the M25. We arrived shortly after 1pm, and as it was too early to look for the owl, we decided to walk some of the coastline of the Gower Peninsula at Pennard. As we left the car park, a single Chough flew overhead. We walked out to an area called Pobbles Bay and watched another four Chough fly along the cliffs. On the return walk, we saw four Shag sitting on rocks for another late addition to my meagre year list total. 

Gower Peninsula at Pennard

We had planned to arrive at Dunvant Park around 5pm; however, we were now only five miles away and were parked up along Dunvant Road shortly after 4pm.

We didn't have a thermal camera, but Yorkshire birder Nick, who was parked up in front of us, did, so we followed him into the park. Around 5pm, local birder Mark Hipkin arrived and suggested a quick briefing on the birds' movements over the previous evenings, and then suggested we stand a sensible distance from the birds' favoured feeding area and let the guys with thermals try to locate the owl.  Mark had suggested that some guidelines for the use of torches should be used, when and if the bird was found. These being that a torch would be used for no more than 30 seconds and would not be shone directly at the bird if it was looking directly towards us.

The owl had failed to appear by 6.15pm, so the guys with thermals split up to search different areas of the park. We followed Nick to search the western corner, and as we turned the corner, a guy with a thermal said he could see the owl feeding on the grass in front of us! All I could see in front of me was darkness! He then said it had flown to a nearby tree. By now, many of the group had joined us, including Mark. A torch was shone on an area just below the bird, and there it was, my first view of a Scops owl! A stunning little ball of feathers perched on a tree branch no more than 8-10 feet above the ground. Highlighted by the torch for no more than the agreed 30 seconds, and then the torch was extinguished to allow the bird to feed. The birders with thermals kept the bird in view, and after 15 minutes had elapsed, we all got more views of the bird, this time perched on a log below the original tree. Following these directives, I managed several more sightings of the bird as it moved north along the hedgeline. One time sat on the top of a pole within a garden, silhouetted by street lights, no need for the thermal camera this time.

The guidelines were followed perfectly, and there was no hint of anyone encroaching on areas that would disturb the bird while we were on site. 

Dunvant Park at 4pm

Scops Owl (B Anderson)

All we had now was the four-hour journey home ahead of us, happy that we had finally managed to connect with this species and put the disappointment of dipping the Durham bird to bed once and for all.

A special thanks to Mark for all his efforts on the night. He said from the beginning he didn't want it to come across as policing, but as a few simple guidelines to best help locate the bird.