Nature Done Wright

    I cleaned out the nesting boxes yesterday, not quite sure what to expect.

    When I opened the owl box two years ago after two screech owls had had an unsuccessful nest (or so I thought at the time), the bottom of the box was a sopping-wet mess filled with feathers.

    This year, the bottom of the nesting box reminded me more of the bottom of a chicken coop, with the smell of ammonia and lots of manure.

   The bottom of the box, once a pristine collection of wood chips, was now  Yuksville. The chips had absorbed the owlets’ bodily functions but not the stench.

   Once again, there was an abundance of feathers, but I knew that going in because of the screech owl cam.

    From the bedraggled assortment of feathers, I could tell that the owls like to eat starlings and an occasional woodpecker.

   There was at least one blue jay feather, which surprised me, since you’d think blue jays would be too big.

   The collection of feathers served as a reminder of why the other birds hate owls so much.