Look up here!

Its amazing what you will find in your own back garden.  If you just look up, you might just see one of these.

I had noticed some owl pellets (pods of vomit – I know, lovely right?) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_%28ornithology%29)  in my front garden, and being inquisitive I decided to poke around in a few of them, to see what the local owls were eating these days.  Nothing out of the norm, a rat, a ground squirrel, maybe a gofer.  Lots of teeth and bones and hair.  Then I noticed one that was still quite fresh (read: squishy and soft) and entertained the idea that this had not long been regurgitated!  So from that spot on the ground, I looked up and the barn owl in the picture above, was looking straight down at me!

He stayed in my beautiful Chinese Elm for about a month.  During the daylight hours I would search the branches and find him sleeping.  Oblivious to the dogs or the noise I was making from working in the garden, he stayed on and slept.  Around 5pm-6pm, he would slowly wake up and groom as seen below.  Getting ready for a night of adventure and tasty meals!