Thursday 8 March 2018

Snow, barred owl pellet

Daisy and I went walkies March 5th. Our snow melted last week! Despite this, we have snow cover again. (Here is the data, hubby.) We've had 8 or 9 cm in the last couple of days, so we're back to a white wonderland.


Back to March 5th!
I spotted another wee nest.



Daisy took her time, then roared across the yard and went up to where I was standing, pouffy tail with excitement.


This nest was knocked out of the big pine tree by the wind.


I checked the male barred owl's favourite tree on March 5th, 2018. You can see the horizontal branches, which make for a lovely vantage point.

I last had evidence of their presence when the jays were bugging them awhile back.
It's been awhile, but this is the first 'sighting' in a long time. All my sightings I've recorded on this page. I believe that they clear out, after they nest in spring, and this gives the rodent population time to recover. I'll bet daddy owl wants to ensure that another critter doesn't take over his nest.
That said, I haven't heard the pair. When they are mating I can hear lovely cooing periodically during the day.




There is that white pile of 'mute' that makes me look for the pellet. When they poop, they usually release a pellet. I dissected a pellet here: Barred Owl Pellet, from an Apr. 3rd pellet.


These are the owls from the archives. I can differentiate the sexes only by their behaviour.

6 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Nice little round-up... last week's snow has melted here, but won't hold my breath about it being the last just yet! YAM xx

Olga said...

I do love owls so I always appreciate your adventures in spotting them.
It still looks very wintery even without the snow.

Nancy J said...

No matter which species, the owl always looks serene and wise. Another beautiful bird. Hope you are having warmer days.We should be back home next Wednesday 14th!!!

William Kendall said...

The snow's been happening here of course the last two days. Winter's not done with us yet.

Red said...

You're on a yo yo as far as weather is concerned. I like a stable weather pattern.

Anvilcloud said...

You are quite the naturalist. Thank goodness the snow accumulation has been minimal.