Report Oct 09

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Notes from October 09 meeting

This meeting was our first birthday and in the absence of Pauline, our founder member, Paul Tarling cut the birthday cake. (Did you see our photo and report in the Wigtownshire Free Press?) Thirteen adults and seven children were at the meeting to dissect owl pellets. Paul began his talk by telling us that many birds produce pellets. Kestrels, sparrow hawks and buzzards have strong digestive systems, the enzymes dissolving even the bones of their prey so it is down to owls to give us samples of what they eat. From this we get an insight of what small animals are present in the area. Different owls have different prey eg Little Owls eat beetles and Tawny Owls eat worms. We were about to dissect Barn Owl pellets, the easiest to collect but still needing special permission to visit their roosting places.
We donned gloves and pulled our soaked pellets apart with tweezers. We set the skulls, lower jaws and bones apart on a plate and compared them against a checklist. Field voles seem to be the preferred food but one or two could have been wood mice. You were considered a prize winner if your pellet contained red-tipped teeth indicating the presence of a shrew. Most of the owls had had a good night's hunting with up to 5 skulls and lots of bones in a pellet. One had 3 skulls and no bones but these would have been regurgitated in a later pellet.
Everyone enjoyed the experience and Paul was heartily thanked.

Our next meeting is in the Clash on Monday 9th November. For the next few months we can meet downstairs, (to the left as you go in). We are keeping our fingers crossed that Pauline will be able to attend.

1) Chairman's welcome, updates and reports.
2) Future events.
3) Members' presentations and finds.
4) Date of next meeting.

Hope to see you all on Monday.
Happy foraging,
Rena