Nature Notes: Nesting Owls in the Backyard
I've posted before about the great horned owls in our yard and I just thought i would give an update. The are both still hooting every night to each other and entertaining us. We have been blessed with two giant owl pellets on the walkway under our trellis. Apparently one of them has been sitting there and leaving us little presents. The first one i found was early in the morning and Luna found it. I knew it wasn't her poop so got closer and realized it was a large owl pellet. There was also a splay (bird poop) on the sidewalk. Since then, I keep and eye out at that space and have seen at least one more pellet and more splays.
I took a walk around the trees in the backyard to look for the owls or evidence of them or a nest. There are about 6 large old willows and about 6 large spruce trees. It didn't take long to find out which of the trees they roost in most often. All the trees had owl pellets under them but there were two trees that had quite a few and i looked for nests in both and didn't see any. I suppose it is possible that they are nesting in our barn.
Owl pellets have always fascinated me. If you aren't familiar with them, they are made of the stuff an owl cannot digest - hair and bones - and are vomited up daily. The larger the owl the larger the pellet. You can then disect them and discover what types of critters the owl has been eating. I used to do this with children when i was a professional working environmental educator. It was always one of our most poplar programs. The kids mostly found rodent skulls but on occasion they would find moles, shrews, or even birds. I myself never saw a kid find reptile skulls but others i know have. I may be doing that soon with the ones in our
yard and I'll let you know what I find.
If you want to see video of an owl coughing up a pellet go to this cool website. It is amazing!
I took a walk around the trees in the backyard to look for the owls or evidence of them or a nest. There are about 6 large old willows and about 6 large spruce trees. It didn't take long to find out which of the trees they roost in most often. All the trees had owl pellets under them but there were two trees that had quite a few and i looked for nests in both and didn't see any. I suppose it is possible that they are nesting in our barn.
Owl pellets have always fascinated me. If you aren't familiar with them, they are made of the stuff an owl cannot digest - hair and bones - and are vomited up daily. The larger the owl the larger the pellet. You can then disect them and discover what types of critters the owl has been eating. I used to do this with children when i was a professional working environmental educator. It was always one of our most poplar programs. The kids mostly found rodent skulls but on occasion they would find moles, shrews, or even birds. I myself never saw a kid find reptile skulls but others i know have. I may be doing that soon with the ones in our
yard and I'll let you know what I find.
If you want to see video of an owl coughing up a pellet go to this cool website. It is amazing!
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