Today was probably the first day of my Big Year that I went out looking for a specific species - Saw Whet Owls. After going with a few members of the Western Connecticut Bird Club last week looking for Saw Whet Owls (lead by Club President Larry Fischer), I learned that owls can be found in evergreen trees during the day. So off I went to Flanders Nature Center I went to search that stand of evergreen trees I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that are near the new sap house.
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| Owl Pellet |
Although I did not find any owls, I did find evidence of owls - pellets and white-wash. It should be noted that there is a saying among many scientists that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absent." In other words, just because you cannot find evidence of something being there that fact does not mean that there is nothing there. I would have been just as happy if I found no evidence at all as I was in finding the pellets and white-wash.
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| Owl Pellet |
Owl pellets are the remnants of an owl's meal and consists of the things that are either to hard to digest or items that are not digestible - bones, fur, feathers, etc. Instead of keeping these items in its stomach to pass along its digestive system, which I am assuming would add extra weight and divert energy to the digestive system - think of how you feel after a Thanksgiving meal, the owl just regurgitates all of these items up and 'spits' it out as a pellet which falls to the ground.
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| Lens Cap is 6cm (2-5/16") in Diameter |
These pellets can be dissected to reveal what the owl has eaten and can further determine, with a big enough sample of pellets, how well the owl population is doing as well as the prey population. For example, if many pellets are showing the remains of the same prey species, then that prey must be plentiful since so many are being caught. But if the pellets are showing the remains of many different prey species, then perhaps there is not a large number of a particular species to be caught - or it could also mean that that owl is an opportunistic feeder, that is, feeding on what ever it can catch.
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| A "Double Pellet" |
Also, since pellets must pass through the throat of the owl, the diameter of the pellet is related to the size of the throat which means that the species of owl that made the pellet can be determined within a species or two.
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| White-wash |
As for white-wash, that's just owl "poop". As the owl perches, the
droppings drop to the ground and since they are white an owl can appear
to paint the ground below in a white wash. So looking for white-wash is
another piece of evidence in the location of owls.
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| male Hooded Merganser |
After trying to find owls for 2 hours, it was time to leave Flanders but until I checked out the 'Beaver' Pond. You never know what might be there since the warmer weather should have thawed out most of the surface. And sure enough, as I got there I saw Canada Geese, 3 Common Mergansers, and a male and female Hooded Merganser (aka Hoodie) - bird #34 for my Big Year!
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| Made by a Bird of Prey?? |
After checking out the Pond, I searched a stand of evergreen trees near the pond for signs but found nothing. However, I did see a spot on the trail where tree litter had been disturbed exposing the trail itself. This made me hypothesize that perhaps a bird of prey came from the right side to catch prey in ts talons and as a result the bird and prey piled up the litter into the patter seen in the photo similar to what a plow does to snow in the winter.
So even though I did not see any owls, I have to say it was a good day anyways.
DATA: 9:40 am - 12 noon; 39F/49F; Overcast/Mostly Cloudy
BIRDS: Canada Geese (4)
Common Mergansers (3: 1 male; 2 female)
Robin (1) Starlings (8)
Crows (4) Bluebirds (3: 2 males; 1 female)
Red Bellied Woodpecker (Heard)
#34 Hooded Merganser (2: male & female)
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