Copyright © 2017 by Ali Bernie Buga-ay, all rights reserved. Oriental Scops: this photograph may not be used without permission.
From the deciduous forests of Russia, the Oriental Scops Owl come to Thailand and it can be a rare opportunity for one to see. Though the species has a wide distribution around Southern Asia, it is difficult to find especially here in Thailand as it is a migrant. Between February to April, this owl nests in a hole of a chosen tree.
As our friend Prin Pattawaro provided us with the GPS coordinates to find it, we were so excited. I already learned a lesson of paying attention to people who give information about a migrant rare bird, we just have to twitch right away or else it can be somewhere else and we have to wait for another year to come. We were lucky to have been there as it decided to hang around at an urban area near Bangkok and it has chosen to perch and roost on a Bougainvillea flowering tree. The next day it left and it was sad for others, Seriously I took over four thousand photographs of this owl as we took time and studied its behavior.
The size of this owl is like the size of a human fist or smaller. It is such a cute beauty with horn like ears.
Samut Prakan, Thailand
March 3, 2017
Nikon D500 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
