Not me, I hasten to add, but I have a suspicion that the beautiful barn owl I featured a week ago may have finally been evicted by the resident jackdaws.
They were already making their presence felt last Monday, and today I spotted more of their activity. When I investigated they were busy going in and out of the stone hole. What was particularly interesting (and raises questions in my mind as to whether the owl is still there, but tolerating them) is that the jackdaws were taking material out of the hole, rather than taking nest material into it. This first shot isn't great, but it's just clear enough to show that the jackdaw has grabbed an owl pellet and is flying away with it. The pellet is the undigested remains of prey, regurgitated by the owl. 
One other photo from today. A trio of ducks flying over the pond.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
11 Comments
Well, I think I should find owl castings in my digs rather undesirable, too. (One wonders how Merlyn put up with Archimedes' castings, what with them living together and all.)
I do hope they haven't driven the owl away; he was so beautiful, but I rather suspect they have … I should think that they would realise that the owl might begin to look upon them as potential food, too.
That "arrangement" of ducks makes me think of the hammered metal (usually copper) ducks that one finds on some living-room walls here in the States … the rough taste equivalent of those porcelain figures found on the mantelpieces of English families of a certain class.
😥 :irked: :awww: But that's how nature works. Owls just need to find another place.
Nice pictures of Jackdaws and good documentation :hat:
Interesting interaction, and rare to witness, too. Competition for nesting sites must be much more intense these days – fewer old buildings and fewer old trees.
Sad, it does look as if they are doing some housecleaning before moving in,
In BC corvids attack gulls and ospreys :left: an little owl can't stand a chance against them :insane:
Sami, thanks!
Lois, that's about the strength of it, but I can promise some more owl photos before the end of the month. 😉
Darko, corvids in general are incredibly aggressive to other species and seem to have no fear at all of birds of prey. Tough little things, but I do like jackdaws.
Adele, it was quite surprising to see them doing this. I've been reading up more on owl behaviour and they don't build nests as such so I would expect the jackdaws to start taking in material fairly soon. Several of them nested in there last year.
dW, oddly, most of the reports I've read say that owl pellets are not unpleasant to handle. I have no experience of that though!
I think the owl has departed, but there are local reports that they (there are two apparently) are in some local woods. As for the 'flying ducks', yes that is roughly the classic formation for wall decoration!
I'm looking forward to them!!