Perplexing Pellets

Okay, I asked for identification help in a Birds of Prey group I found on flickr. One of the group moderators thought my pellets may be from a tawny owl. How *freaking* cool is that?! Here is what he had to say:

Where in Europe? What habitat?

Lots of different groups of birds make pellets. I'm worried that you say they were '2 inches or so': did you measure them? Size is very commonly overestimated if not actually measured. If they actually were that size, I'd imagine they were too big for a kestrel. If they had no bones, what did they have? Were they largely fur with no bones? I can see bits of white stuff in your pics which do look suspiciously like bones. Given size and likelihood, my guess is tawny owl; they often feed a lot on earthworms which may or may not fit an absence of bones in your pellets.

After reading his feedback I provided more information. Here is what he then said:

Tawny owl still sounds a possibility. In the UK, at least, they often live within towns. If you want to break down a pellet completely, just soak it in water - you'll def find bones/teeth then if there are any - but be prepared for them to be tiny!

Little did he know that while he was writing his last comment I was out with a skewer breaking up more pellets. And guess what? I FOUND BONES! Not many and they were tiny like he said. I also found some fur. I'm so excited that they may indeed be from owls, but still want to know why he ruled out kestrels. Left him another question, hopefully he'll comment back.

Wanna see what a Tawny Owl looks like? Gorgeous! Read about them here.

Tawny Owl or Kestrel? Gotta tell you, the kestrel pellet description here sounds nearly identical to what I found. My heart wants Tawny, though.

Owl Pellets?

I'm so flipped about this I can hardly stand it. I found, what I think are owl pellets in the lawn in front of our house. Actually, I first noticed them on Audrey's windowsill. They seemed way too big to be bird poop and a cat couldn't possibly have climbed up to the second story window sill and left a few hairballs. So I thought they may be owl pellets. I looked in the lawn underneath her window and found 5 more.

Here's the thing, I broke apart 4 of them with a stick and didn't see any bones. I read online that what distinguishes owl pellets from other bird pellets is the presence of bones. I couldn't find any information about the existence of owl pellets *WITHOUT* bones. Does this mean they are from another type of bird? The thing is these pellets are big - 2 inches or so - what other bird could make pellets of this size? The largest birds I've seen here are crows, rooks, pigeons and magpies. Would one of those make pellets? These look like owl pellets. I remember dissecting them in school.
I googled around a bit but really couldn't turn up much info. Specifically, I couldn't find any info about the pellets of birds that aren't raptors. Does anyone out there know about owl pellets? Bird pellets? Please share your expertise.

I just love the idea of an owl coming to sit on our roof at night. How incredibly cool would that be?

p.s. I know that owl pellets are not safe to dissect until they've been sterilized. I broke them apart outside with the girls safely inside.

p.p.s. more googling - think maybe they are kestrel pellets.

The Rookery

Very happy to have gotten a few pictures of the rook nests that I've seen in the tree tops around Luxembourg City. I've seen 2 areas where the tree tops are literally filled with these large nests. These pictures were taken about 1 mile away from our house, right off a main arterial. In addition to all the nests it is also fun to see the rooks flying around with sticks hanging out of their beaks.

Rooks are similar to crows but bigger and they have yellowish colored beaks. They also seems to be quieter - none of that loud cawing so characteristic of crows. Rooks feed on insects that they pull out of meadows, fields and grass.

So fun! Have an Easter craft for you tomorrow!

For the birds

Audrey and I picked up these little suet rings at the grocery store this week. Hoping I could get a better look at some of our neighborhood birds as they stop for a bite. So far we've had quite a few blue tits visit. Not surprising as they were pictured on the suet ring box. I think a rock thrush also had a nibble, but I'm not 100% sure that's what it was. Thanks for all your birding comments. So great!

Photo credit here.

The Crafty Crow has a great post on make-at-home bird feeders. Hoping to make one of them soon.

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Extra surfing time this weekend? Here's what I've been clicking on lately.

Hilarious
Shocking
Inspiring
Helpful
Feathered
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Just so you know

Just a quick post to let you know I've entered a bird phase. Weird. I always got a little smirk when I heard the term birder. I'm not one, by the way. More of an admirer. It started with these magpies that fly around our house. At the time I didn't know they were magpies. I only noticed they were different and beautiful compared to the crows I used to seeing out my Seattle window. Now I can't stop looking at birds. For Christmas I requested a book on European birds. Santa came through. We keep the book on the kitchen table. Audrey calls it mine owl book. Identifying them is harder than it seems - especially for a person (me) who has no working short term memory. Maybe it had a white stripe. Maybe it's tail feather was off to the side. Hmmm.... is small and cute in the description?

Here are the birds I've been able to identify (I think!) so far . . .

Robin

White Throated Robin

Does anyone have any tips of identifying birds? Not that I'm a birder. I'm just sorta curious.

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A few more hours to join the Charm Quilt Scrap Exchange. We're up to 24.
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