I reach the grand old age of 65 before I pick up a Barn Owl pellet for the first time. I did so on the pretext that my 5 year old granddaughter would be interested as to its contents, but as it turned out she was more interested in the telly, while Margaret and our next door neighbour were simply spellbound as we carefully unpicked the pellet.
Bones by the score, four rodent skulls intact and one in half, but what surprised me most was the amount of fur, as the fur unravelled and expanded I could have stuffed a small pillow with the stuff.
I hastily took a snap or two before consigning the remains to the bin, although I briefly thought of making a necklace and earrings with the skulls, Captain Jack Sparrow eat your heart out.
A truly fascinating insight into the contents of the pellet David and one of the best reads and illustrations in ages for me....excellent and well done for the effort to uncover the 'waste' of a Barn Owl.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was truly fascinating Pete, had I done this exercise at the age of fifteen I think I would have been hooked on a life as a naturalist, instead of entering the seedy world of snooker halls and attempting to drink all the breweries in the north west dry.
ReplyDeleteDave. Have to agree with Pete.... Don't think however Birdguides would like this one...Very informative and nicely presented.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I am very envious of your GCG weed dance shots, I am still waiting to see this spectacle. May be too late now. Be in touch.
Thanks Brian, don't think your too late for the Grebe dance, I've been covering two sites of late but got lucky at MSW on Sunday when the pair actually mated three times, mind I did put in a eight hour shift. I would like to get them side on next time, but is that me being greedy.
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