A Snowbird in Paradise

It looks like the one owl baby has learned to fly and "fledged". Isn't that a great word? The youngster leaves the nest each evening. We have actually seen it fly down from the tower. Then it is back home by the time we can see the nest in the morning. I have no idea if this is the usual way owl parents manage their families, but it certainly is the way this family has worked it out. No sign of the parents all week.

We rode our bikes around the end of the bay and could go right up to the communications tower but not inside the enclosure. This was fine for these photos, but if I can get inside the fence I can look for owl pellets.

We used purchased owl pellets in science. The students could pick apart the dry pellet, locate the bones of owl prey and put the skeleton back together to identify what the owl was eating. It is regurgitated and is dry fur with the bones encased inside. Not a yucky as it sounds. One young student of mine remarked, "It is like a museum inside!" There must be a fortune's worth of pellets under that tower.