According to reports in Ornitho.de there is a good chance that twitchers of the north of Middle Europe can observe Hawk Owls (Surnia ulula) this winter/ late fall quite close to their homegrounds in the northern parts of Germany. The location of a Hawk Owl spending already several days in that area is in Gristede (community: Wiefelstede) just 50 km south-south-west of Wilhelmshaven and not far of the Autobahn A28. The owl had been there from November 10th until at least the 14th. Till 16th the owl is disappeared from their long-lasting favored spot.
A comparable situation had been last year. At least this was true for Denmark and for the southern part of Sweden last year. In the “Danish Bird News” in 2012 they announced the first Hawk Owl for almost 7 years. A 1st winter individual has been seen at Store Hareskov, Copenhagen during 30th September to 8th October 2012.
From time to time there are wintering birds far inland. Last time, I remember very well, was in 2006, when Hawk Owls could be seen in the middle of Germany 100km south of Berlin. A blog you will find here to that situation.
To cope with the growing demand for top shots of the rarer species of the Palearctic Bird-Lens is keen to enrich the range of pictures of birds you can find in the western palearctic. Trips to remote places to capture images of rare birds of western palearctic were very successful. This nice image is only a first impression, what you will find in the gallery in the “Pictures Shop” very soon. Just give me a message, if I could serve you with an image needed before the new pictures are online.