Europe's largest and one of the world's largest owls, the mountain owl, settled on the railing on a balcony in central Gothenburg during Tuesday afternoon. There were several who had noticed a little unusual guest in the urban environment and one of them was Filip Sjöholm, who works at a restaurant nearby.

- Several people gathered and when we came out onto the street we had to borrow a binoculars from a birdwatching crowd. It was they who said it was a rocky hill, says Filip Sjöholm to SVT Nyheter Väst.

According to him, it sat perfectly on the balcony and did not seem to be disturbed by the crowd below.

- It looked like it was sleeping at first, but then it started to move a little and it scratched into the springs and so on.

Not quite unusual

It is not uncommon for mountain owls to go to central parts of the city, but they usually do not arrive as early as August because this year's kids have not been separated from their parents yet. It usually happens later in the fall according to ornithologist Tommy Järås. The reason they go to the inner city is because there is plenty of food there.

- The Berguven eat, among other things, rats, hares, mice, drones and other birds. I have seen that in so-called spy balls after a mountain owl couple who had settled on Ullevi a few years ago, he says.

Why does the rock cover up food?

- It fires up hard-to-digest parts like skeletal pieces and fur from rabbits and rats and other things, says Tommy Järås, ornithologist.

How do other birds react to a mountain owl in town?

- It is clear that they are scared because there is a risk that they will become the prey of the rock. Therefore, you can sometimes see how gulls, skates and crows dive down to scare them away.

Sitting enough for dusk

According to him, a rock can be 60 to 70 centimeters in height and about 1.80 meters between the wing tips.

- The Berguvian population is on a downward trend. Why we do not know, but an inventory will be made across the country this year and next year, he says.

How long do you think it can stay there on the balcony?

- As long as those who watch it stay at a distance so that it does not get scared away, it will probably remain until dusk when owls begin to chase their prey.