Tawny Owl, in Its Winter Refuge

White Kingdom

As soon as the first snowflake fell, I went out. When the first centimetre had accumulated, I was there. When the white beauty stayed on the trees, I had to go back again. And when it seemed that I had already photographed the Tawny Owl to my heart’s content in that winter wonderland, I had to return once more – because even more snow had fallen. And then once again.

And if I hadn’t been leaving for Bearded Vultures in Switzerland in the second half of January, followed immediately by a trip with clients to photograph European Bison in Poland, I would have kept going back until the owl left its winter roost and started nesting somewhere nearby.

Because during the shoot on 10 January, the Tawny Owl quietly and deliberately called out, I now know that it was a male. I called him “Orangey” because he had the orange-brown colour morph. Other Tawny Owls, such as the well-known celebrity from Čimice, are more brownish-grey.

Winter Roost

In the Czech Republic, Tawny Owls often spend the winter roosting and sheltering somewhere other than the place where they later breed. They may change their winter roost if the site no longer suits them, and they usually move to a nesting cavity only shortly before courtship and breeding begin.

Their courtship starts very early. As I discovered years ago in Hodkovičky, I could already hear them calling through closed windows in the darkness as early as 5 January. Once they feel the need to defend their territory from competitors, they may start even earlier.

The literature states that Tawny Owls do not use their nesting cavity as a winter roost, supposedly because they look for quieter, better-insulated and warmer places during the winter. My own observations of winter roosts and nesting sites definitely don’t support that…

The winter roosts I have found were often much more exposed – beside hiking trails, close to residential areas or in parks. But try finding an occupied nesting site! That is considerably more difficult. One advantage is that trees have no leaves in winter, making a woodland with nesting cavities much easier to survey.

I’d be grateful if you let me know about any other Tawny Owl winter roosts – or perhaps an occupied nest. I’d be happy to make a trip to photograph them.

Related links

• Owl photographs on my website

• Wildlife photography articles

• Photography trips

• Photography workshops

• Owl photographs on Shutterstock