Owl Meme Monday and A Promise

So I know I've been failing a bit.

I have not been posting a lot and I feel bad about that. However, this week I will sit down and do an update. My online classes end this week as well so I will start to have more time to update! I promise! I'll give you the scoop on whats up with my owl friend soon!

Sincerely,

Owl Girl

Owl Meme Monday

I know I forgot last week, so this week? You get 2 owl memes! :D

Mud-Bogging Through The Land of the Lost

So on Tuesday night we went as a family to try and find another roost. Tom had said something about the Wood Duck Trail, so that's where we went. Well, I had never been on that trail before and neither had my mom or dad!! So we started the trek and we were just near the end of curve in the trail when we turned the corner and saw, what my mom refers to as, The Land of the Lost:

Hey look! A beaver dam!

We had to turn around since the path was underwater...

And Now An Overdue Update

I'm sorry.

I did not update when I meant to last week and then I put it off, and off and off.......and now here we are one  week later!

Woops!

But now I'll let you know what had been going on! I started dissecting last week and did the five pellets I collected during the full moon 2 weekends ago. I first weighed each one to see what the difference was. What was interesting, but expected, was that the weights actually went down each day. The first pellet was 20g and the last one was 2g.

Not the same!

So clearly the diet was affected by the lunar cycle. So then I took all my stuff with me in my handy dandy IKEA bag in one hand and my toaster over in the other and went in to set up my work space. Originally I was going to be back in one of the workshops, but Tom decided to put me in the office with two other land people who I think are saints for putting up with me in their office smelling it up. 

But back to the research

Owl pellets are full of digestive juices and other things that could be in the owls digestive track so disinfecting them is a must, even though I'm wearing gloves to tear them apart. That's where my toaster oven comes in! I found that one of the best ways to disinfect the pellets is to bake them so I will be baking mine at 350 degrees F for 40-45 min. Before I put them in, I measured their length and width at the widest part. I then wrapped them in foil and put them in.  

Toaster ovens smell the first time you use them!

Plus I was baking owl puke, so the smell was not awesome, but it did go away (or at least I couldn't smell it anymore) and wasn't as bad. When the 40-45 min was up, I used my cute little pair of tongs and took them out to cool. Then?

Time to identify some bones!

With my handy charts next to me, I started to take the pellets apart and identify the bones. In the first pellet, there were 3 crayfish, a mole, a shrew and a vole. Well, there were pieces of those animals. There however was no skulls. The next pellet was about the same. A few crayfish and a shrew, but no skulls. 

A skull and some fun came the next day

Wednesday I came back to finish the small pellets. I figured it wouldn't be much since these pellets were smaller and only weighed between 2-8 oz. 

Boy was I wrong!

In the first pellet I took apart,  found a bird. See:

I tried to put it together the best I could. There were 4 of the 6 bones still together for the legs, a spine, a pelvis and either some wing bones or ribs, I wasn't 100% sure. And as for the big one at the top? I honestly don't know. It could be part of the beak, it did line up with it, but I'm not sure. 

The next pellet had my first skull

This is the skull of a shrew. This is the only skull I found in all 5 pellets so I was pretty excited. So I took a lot of pictures:

(I like how well you can see the teeth in this one)

Shrews and crayfish were found in every pellet in some way, shape or form so I'm thinking these are the main pieces to the barred owl's diet. At least this barred owl that is!

So that's what you've missed.

My dad, my mom and I went out tonight to try and find another roost but were not successful (unless me getting 3 mosquito bites equals success). The new moon is this week, so I'll be collecting from my barred owl friend for sure this week, but if I can find another roost that would be cool to look at this week too! Hopefully I'll get better at updating this week!

Sincerely, 

Owl Girl

First, an Owl Meme Monday

Owl Meme Monday

The 2nd Owl Meme Monday! Hurray!

I will give you all an update tomorrow on everything that has been happening! 

Thank God for Rain Boots

Collection has begun!

It's official, I have my first official pellet! I went out this afternoon at about 2:15 or so, in the pouring rain and walked back the half a mile to the roost and got it!

Hurray!

Of course, it has been raining here for about 2 days straight now so the path was not really a path anymore. It was more of a small river with a few "land bars" in the middle of it. But luckily, my mom bought me some lovely rain boots (well, they're really gardening boots) to wear today because I knew after yesterday I would need them. Yesterday I went and cleaned the area out of pellets. So I currently have a bucket outside the garage of about 20 pellets/pellet pieces because I don't know what to do with them yet.

Anybody want some tiny bones and fur?

Just kidding! I am going to ask if the nature center wants them for educational purposes though since I will be collecting about 15-20 extra ones every 2 weeks or so.

But back to today!

I trudged back through the river of a path and collected the pellet! It was under what I am calling "Tree #2" of the roost site. There are 2 trees I found a pile under and this was the 2nd one I found, so I figured Tree #2 was a good name. I put on my latex gloves and picked up, tried to pick as much pine needles I could off of it and put it in my Ziploc bag. 

Initial observation: Mr. Owl likes crayfish!

At first glance, you can see 4 or 5 crayfish claws stuck in the pellet, which makes me think he has been eating more out of the river the past few days. There are a few other bones in it as well, but there is an abundance of shell pieces and claws. We'll have to wait and see when I start dissecting next week! I wonder what tomorrows pellet will look like!

Sincerely,

Owl Girl

Finally, some relief: Roost 1 found!

Well, I did it.

I found the first roost for my study! When I went to look yesterday, I found nothing new. And I mean nothing. I checked both places where I have found pellets before and found no new ones, even though it had been about 3 days since I had looked. 

I was not a happy camper.

As frustrated as I was though, I noticed that there was a huge grove of pine trees back behind the other grove of pine trees that I had been looking under up until now. I hadn't noticed it before because there was a wall of what I am calling "mini trees" that were about 4 ft. high blocking it. But I decided that I should look back there since it was more off the beaten path and had more protection so the owl might like that. 

So I returned today.

When I first got back there I was trying to make a game plan because, lets face it: THERE WERE A LOT OF TREES BACK THERE! So I started to make a circle around the perimeter. As I was doing so, I heard something big fly in and over to a group of trees about 20 ft. away from me. I didn't see what it was, but I could hear that it was big. So I wandered over there some more. I didn't see anything under the trees I heard the noise around so I ventured off to the side a little. 

That's when I saw the first pellet.

It stood out a lot since it poured last night and the pellet had gotten soaked so it was pitch black and had swollen a little. Then I noticed a couple inches from it, there was another. So I stood up more and tried to scan this tree more clearly.

In total, there was about 10 pellets.

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! So then I noticed another pellet off to one side next a tree about 3 ft. away.

I found 10 more pellets.

This was the point when I almost started crying because after countless hours of searching, about 10 mosquito bites (mostly on my right hand) and countless sleepless nights I had finally found the barred owl's roost. There was no mistaking it. Carl, the professor advising my project, told me that when I find the roost I'll know because there will be a ton of pellets.

20 is a ton in my book!

So I have done it everyone! I have found a roost and just in time for my first collection date on Thur. for the first full moon cycle I'm using. I had hoped to have more roosts, but I can still be working on that. But the fact is, I can actually start my project on time. 

It's a good day.

Now I didn't see the owl, the darn thing is ALWAYS HIDING, but I have found it's roost and it's pellets and that is just fine in my book. So I present, roost 1:

(The 2nd tree I found is off to the right a little)

Sincerely, 

Owl Girl

First Ever Owl Meme Monday!

Hello Everybody!

I would like to introduce you to my new favorite thing, owl memes! So in honor of this, every Monday will be:

Owl Meme Monday

Every Monday I will post one of my favorite owl memes for you all to enjoy! So without further adieu, the first official owl meme:

(This one is my absolute favorite!!)

Things are looking good!

Hello everyone! 

I suppose it's time for an update! Well Wed. night after I posted the pellet I found, Mariah found ANOTHER pellet about 3 min later right when I was calling my mom to say we had found one. This one was bigger and more intact still. We then searched the area the best we could before the sun went down, which wasn't that long but we got a good look at most every tree base.

However, we went to find the owl.

Which we did not find. We stood there and listened for a good amount of time before we gave up and walked back to my car. Of course, as soon as we were there, the darned owl starting calling.

Stupid owl.

But it was ok because my project really focuses on the pellets, the owls are just a nice thing to know as well. So needless to say, the champagne was brought out when I returned (Metaphorically of course! Me and Mariah are only 20). The next day I decided I deserved a little bit of a break plus I had a paper to write for my online psych class, but my dad wanted to help so he went out and tried to find some pellets himself and surprisingly enough,

He found some!

So later on, me and my mom went back with him to see the pellets. Sure enough, 2 MORE PELLETS! How exciting! I figured this was a good sign since I now had 2 places to potentially collect from. 

So Friday afternoon, I went to check both.

First I went to the place my dad had found and guess what? THERE WERE MORE PELLETS! When I looked at the ground this time there were 4 pellets/pieces instead of 2! Hurray! So I think that I have my first confirmed collection place.

Then I went back to the place I found. It's kind of a hike, half a mile one way, but I figured it's worth it if I find more pellets. And guess what?

MORE PELLETS!

Well, one more pellet, but it was one that wasn't there on Wed. night! So I believe that this may be my 2nd confirmed collection site.

(If you squint, you can see my pink ribbons on 3 tree limbs) 

The common thing between the both of them: Pine trees. Both sites are in a group of pine trees. So I'm thinking that owls have a thing for pine trees. 

I'll keep that fact in mind.

I would like to find another place to collect from, but if that doesn't happen before the 23rd (My first OFFICIAL collection day) oh well! Maybe for the next phase of the lunar cycle. So I plan on going back tomorrow to see if there are more pellets in both areas and if so,

WINNING!

Sincerely,

Owl Girl

On the right track!!!

Night 3: FOUND A LINK!! Me and my trusty sidekick Mariah just found this under a pine tree!!! As you can see, it contains bones and fur. Old owl pellet?!
I THINK SO!!
It's gunna be a good night!! :D

They ARE out there!

So the past few days have been frustrating to say the least. I went Monday afternoon in hopes of maybe seeing an owl roosting during the day. Tom at CNC marked a map for me for where the owls are typically heard/seen and indicated what species are where. So I decided to try to tackle the barred owl first.

No such luck.

I wandered around in the woods looking like a crazy person for about an hour and a half and found nothing. No owl, no pellets, no nothing! So then I decided, well owls ARE nocturnal so if I come back during dusk/before sunset they should be waking up and out and about.

Wrong again.

My mom and I wandered around for 2 and a half hours between 5-7:30 on Monday night and found nothing. Again. We even went back in the woods and tried to find the screech owls. Nope. Nothing.

Owls are good at hiding.

So I decided to pack a bag and go and wait for them last night. I took my mom with me again and we didn't leave the house until 8 since sunset was at 8:56 last night. I literally took a blanket and sat on the path and waited to hear the barred owls. My logic was if I can hear it, maybe I can tell where it is and get a rough idea of the roost location. We sat there/wandered around for 2 hours with my phone playing calls for me and everything.

Nothing. Again.

To say I wanted to give up would not be far from the truth. At this point it was about 10:00, it was dark, I had gotten bitten by 2 mosquitoes (one on each hand) and I was ready to call it quits. One of the caretakers came up to check on me because he wanted to make sure I wasn't some hoodlum causing trouble and we started to chat for a little bit. And then, out of no where,

WE HEARD THE OWL!

Clear as day! It sounded just like my recording I was using! The barred owl has a unique call and it is unmistakable. Here, have a listen! The owl starts hooting around 7 sec:

That is EXACTLY what we heard! It was very exciting and gave me the second wind I needed. They are out there, not where I thought the little buggers would be, but they are!

So tonight, I'm trying once more.

But this time, I'm going to go to a row of pines by a duck pond which, according the caretaker I was talking to at the time, is about where the sound was coming from. He said they have been seen over there a lot too. I'm taking my trusty side-kick, my best friend Mariah, and a big flashlight and I am going to find those darn things tonight if it kills me! (But hopefully it won't come to that....) Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

Owl Girl

An Owl-Tastic Adventure

Hi there everyone! 

My name is Lindsay and I'm the Owl Girl. This summer I will be performing research in fulfillment of my Bachelors in Biology degree I will graduate with next May! So I thought it might be a fun adventure to create a blog about all of this nonsense I call research.

So! You may be wondering, what are you researching?

Well I'm glad you asked. :) My official title is:

"The Correlation between the the diet of Owls (Order Strigiformes) and the Lunar Cycle at the Chippewa Nature Center."

But in normal terms, basically I want to see if an owls diet is affected by the amount of moon light available at night to hunt by. Sounds kind of interesting huh? In order to do this I am going to collect the pellets produced by the owls, dissect them and then compare the contents during certain parts of the lunar cycle.
BEFORE I MOVE ON I want to explain what an owl pellet is. Most people think, "Oh....like poop right?" NOOOO!!!! I don't know how many times I've had to explain this but an owl pellet is one that is regurgitated by the owl each evening. Owls swallow their prey whole which means they eat the bones and fur of the mice, voles, shrews, etc. However, bones and fur cannot be digested so the digestive system of the owls picks off the meat and then compacts the bones and fur and other un-digestible things into a pellet and then the owl throws it up each evening before it goes and hunts again. They look something like this:

Not very pretty but hey! It's basically owl puke so what do you expect?! After I collect the pellets I am going to sterilize them in my handy dandy toaster oven (since who knows what could be on them!) and then pick them apart, or dissect them if you're a scientist, and identity what species the bones belong to. 

I thought you were working with the lunar cycle?

Well yes I am! So the dates I collect the pellets are very specific. Each part of the lunar cycle will have 5 pellets associated with it for each species I collect from: both days before the moon, the day of and both days after the moon. My preliminary studies show that IN THEORY the diet of the owls may not be as good during the full moon because the prey don't come out at night because they can be seen so easily. 

So,

I'm going to collect during the full moon and the new moon times of the month so that I get results from both ends of the spectrum. I also am going to keep record of how bright it is during the full moon since cloud cover might affect my results. 

What species are you going to be working with?

In theory, 3:

The Great Horned Owl

The Barred Owl

The Eastern Screech Owl

(They're the cute little things!)

All of these species have been found and seen in the Chippewa Nature Center where I am conducting my research, so in theory I will be working with all of them but we'll see how that goes. 

So I think that's really it for now!

I really don't have much else to say. This is just the overview of my project. I plan on updating this blog every time I have something new to say, which may be every day or every few days. We'll just have to see how it all goes! So stay tuned for an exciting summer full of research!

Sincerely,

Owl Girl