Some footage from a nest box in CO. Kerry has been shown recently (see several of the posts below), but when a check was made of the cameras on a recent morning, a pile of prey items were seen at the nest box entrance. Spread out, below, were 5 Bank Voles, 3 Wood Mice, and a House Mouse.
Nine prey items found at the entrance of a Barn Owl nest box, July 2014 (M.O'Clery).
Bearing in mind that this was early in the morning, just after a night when the adults not only had to feed themselves, but also four near fully grown chicks. The chicks must have received more than they could eat before daylight, and the parents still brought more to the nest. It is not unusual to occasionally see perhaps 1 to 3 extra prey items at a nest site, but 9 is extraordinary and shows the abundance of prey available to the owls at this site.
