Why a rare owl sparked a news blackout By Huw Williams

BBC Scotland reporter Published duration 12 March 2019

image copyright Owen Merriman image caption The exact location of the rare bird was known only to three people

When a rare Tengmalm's Owl turned up in Orkney last November, it was decided to "suppress" news of its exact location.

The bird, which had only been seen in Britain a handful of times, had been spotted on the island of Copinsay.

The presence of such a rare visitor would normally attract hundreds of birdwatchers desperate to see it for themselves.

But the exact location remained a tightly guarded secret, with only three people aware that it had taken up temporary residence in an outside toilet at the island's lighthouse.

image copyright Wikimedia image caption The bird was in an outside toilet at Copinsay lighthouse

The secrecy was because of Copinsay's role as an important seal breeding ground.

However, rumours of the owl's visit had begun to circulate, and the Scottish Birds magazine has now revealed the lengths gone to by some people in an attempt to get around the news blackout.

They included inventing a falconer who had supposedly lost a Tengmalm's Owl.

Martin Gray, who wrote the article with Alan Leitch from the RSPB, told BBC Radio Orkney: "It's an extremely rare bird. It's only occurred in Britain a handful of times.

"The last record that was widely available to the general public was in 1980.

"So there's been almost two generations of twitchers who've not had the chance to see one."

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Disturbing the island's seals while they are nursing their young is prohibited by law.

At that time, there would have been hundreds of pups on Copinsay - and there was concern that they would be disturbed if hundreds of twitchers descended on the island.

"It was a very clear cut case of no news getting out," Mr Gray says.

However, that didn't stop some birdwatchers from trying.

There were attempts on social media to try and work out where the owl wasn't, in a bid to shorten the list of possible locations.

image copyright Hugh Harrop image caption A Tengmalm's Owl was spotted in Shetland in February

Someone even invented a fictional falconer from Caithness, who had supposedly lost a Tengmalm's Owl and made an appeal for help to find it again.

"It was a complete fabrication, a total, total lie," said Mr Gray.

"This guy was invented. The email address was invented that people were being asked to respond to, if they had any news of his alleged lost bird."

So, what did he think of that?

"Too far. A step too far."

'A few clowns'

Now, he says, the community of birdwatchers needs to address the problems being caused by a small minority who seem to feel they are entitled to tick off a rare bird no matter what they have to do to find out where it is.

"Most of them are kind, caring, compassionate, thoughtful, ethical, generous, good people," he says.

"But there are just a few clowns that are out there, spoiling it for everyone.

"The first step on the way to restoring a degree of order is to recognise that there is a problem. I'm not hearing that. I'm hearing a lot of dismissive comments, that it's no big deal."

Until the issue is addressed, he says, he is more likely to keep the news to himself if he encounters any more rare species.

However, it is not believed to be the same bird that was seen in Orkney.