Owl Pellets
(Editor's note: Science writer Miriam Darlington has long been captivated by owls, and in her memoir "The Wise Hours" she travels throughout her native England as well as to other countries to learn more about them. But when her son Benji falls ill, her search for a cure for his mysterious disease becomes enmeshed with her fieldwork.)
In March I'd started to find owl pellets. Between the size of a conker and a champagne cork, these undigested, regurgitated remains had been cast along with whitewash splatters beneath the old oak near my home. These were signs that indicated only one thing: the presence of an owl. As the days lengthened, my interest deepened. Barn Owls begin to pair up in late winter and might settle on a roost that will be a good potential nesting site. In the privacy of their nest cavity or a hidden roost high within the beams of an old barn there will be much courtship bonding. All through the spring, mutual face-preening and cheek-rubbing are interspersed with the male bringing the female gifts of voles. If they can get into breeding condition and the food supply is good, around 75 percent can breed anytime between March and August, but eggs have been found in January, and it is possible that if the owls are in the right condition they could breed at any time in a good year. If it is a bad year, and their habitat does not provide enough voles, mice or shrews, breeding is more likely to fail, or even not take place at all.
