This past week’s snowfall has added a new element to the experience in Centennial Woods, tracking. For the most part, larger animals stay hidden from human view during the day. However, when snow falls evidence of their movements and activities become visible. After the first snow fall I bundled up and ran out to the woods as soon as I could. Although I saw no-one stirring, besides a few hardy chickadees and the maples and pines in the wind, I could see the movement of people, dogs, and deer over the past few hours. I found what I determined to be fox tracks and followed them through the woods for hours trying to determine what they did while no one was looking. This experience of tracking an animal through the woods made me more aware and more thoughtful. I was trying to think like a fox. “Why would the tracks lead this way?” And, when I lost the tracks I had to think like a fox to find them again and continue on. This experience gave me a greater insight into the lives of beings I rarely get to see.
The snow also allowed me an insight into the world of Barry the Barred Owl (I do not know the gender of this owl but I am going to refer to him as he/him). I have three places in the woods where i think this owl is roosting/living. One of the signs that he is roosting in a place is owl pellets on the ground around him. Owl pellets are fur and bones that Barry could not digest that have been regurgitated. Normally it is quite hard to find owl pellets. However, one day I was inspecting the ground around the area I though he was roosting in and I saw him 15 feet up perched in a hemlock tree. I nearly screamed in excitement and fear. I was almost directly under him and his piercing black eyes were staring down at me. The scariest part is that he had been there the whole time and I had no idea. After taking a few pictures of him as proof and just sitting in awe of him he was bothered by some birds and flew up a hill and away into the trees. I completely forgot my interest in pellets and ran up the ridge after him. I spotted him three quarters up a tall pine quite far from me. He heard me, looked at me then jumped and flew off in silence.
After catching my breath and looking at the mediocre pictures I got of him I had an idea. What if he had regurgitated something while sitting in the hemlock? I knew the exact spot he had been sitting and if he had it confirms my suspicions about him roosting in this area. So, I made a big loop continuously scanning for him back to his hemlock. Underneath his perch I searched around the lightly snow-covered ground and struck gold. Well, I guess it was more of a black color but it might as well have been gold for me. Three owl pellets had been deposited directly under the hemlock! Elated, I began to call people who could possibly bring me a plastic bag to collect these treasures of information. The only person who responded to my call was Luke Huntington. He rushed down to the woods with a bag. While he brought the bag I began to dissect the pellets with two sticks. Peeling apart the black fur I came across tiny leg bones first, then lower jaws, then the skull of two mice/small rodents! These pellets are windows into he world of Barry. Not only do I know what he is eating, I know how much, when, and where he is most likely roosting!
The snow came with some great surprises.
Years back, Ed Rhyne had developed what he called the dog trot for walking Nike through the woods in the mornings and evenings. At one point, it skirted near an old holly in which an owl made its roost. The forest floor beneath it was littered with evidence of the owl’s presence but I must confess I never dissected the remains. It was spooky to walk through there in the early evenings because he would sometimes rouse and fly away when you got too near the tree. The dampened whoosh of his wings was eerie. thanks for sharing this.
Very nice. I love the picture of the owl flying into the branches.
And the tiny bones from the bottom of the tree.
Wow the owl pellets are so cool! And even more cool is that you know how to find them and how to interpret them.