We have been working hard during the last few days getting the last of the arisings raked up from the verges on Cowbar Lane and have been rewarded with a lucky find.
Despite it being October, the sun on our backs has made it warm work, the skylarks have been singing and lots of people walking by have stopped to offer words of encouragement. While working we heard a curlew back at the coast after a summer on the moors and saw a skein of at least fifty geese fly over. The last stretch was hard work due to overnight rain and it was tempting to give up and go home but a pull of the rake through the damp grass cuttings uncovered a gem. It could have been easily mistaken for a small clod of earth or a dog poo but the small bones sticking out of it identified it as a bird pellet. It was directly under the fence that separates the verge from the farmland so the bird, presumably an owl, must have sat on the fence and regurgitated it.
We took it home to analyse the contents and, as with every other pellet we’ve found, it contained surprises. Pairing up the skulls and lower jaws showed the owl had eaten one field vole and two wood mice, one of which was quite elderly judging by the worn-down teeth. Unusually, some of the bones were still joined together as you can see here.
Full details of this tenth pellet will be available in the bird pellet section soon.