I had to get up very early in the morning, but I did not regret. The scope owl was very near the place, for which I got the tip. In the morning gloom, before the sunrise, it could be barely seen in the opening of the tree cavity – but it was there! A scope owl just a short way from Prague… I would have never expected that.
Eurasian scope owl (Otus scops), which resembles a miniature eagle owl, occurs in Europe mostly in the Mediterranean, but a gradual northward expansion has been evident for decades. In Slovakia it nested for the first time in 1950s and in Moravia shortly before the turn of the new century; the year before last and last year an absolute sensation was caused by the discovery that it nested right in Olomouc. In Bohemia scope owls appear more and more often, but no nesting has taken place yet.
It seems that scope owls are spreading to Slovakia from Hungary. They live there often in and near human settlements, and they keep this habit also in their new home. The scope owls in Olomouc have the same preference. One of the reasons for this synanthropization could be that they are insect eating owls, which, paradoxically, find more food in towns and villages that in agricultural landscape. But perhaps also a better offer of nesting cavities plays a role; after all, also woodpeckers, which excavate them, particularly European green woodpecker, have adapted to life near humans.
The scope owl, which I observed near Prague, was near a built-up area, but not directly in it. As the sun was rising and I could see it a bit better, I was thinking about when we will see the nesting of this beautiful little owl in Bohemia. Couldn’t it be already this year just at this place, a stone’s throw from Prague? Wishful thinking… But sooner or later it will surely happen. And maybe directly in the capital city.
After the sunrise, when I was ready to leave, a nuthatch started hanging around the cavity, occupied by the scope owl. The owl stuck his head out of the hole and then my moment came. I quickly took the photo, in which you can clearly see not only the scope owl, but also the nuthatch above the cavity. And if you look at the photo carefully, you can see, how small the scope owl is.