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Powerful Owl pellet, also known as owl vomit or regurgitation
This morning I came across this weird-looking bundle of hair and stuff in the bush surrounding Manly Dam National Park near Sydney:
Date spotted: 20 January 2019 (Summer)
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’24.5″S 151°15’04.4″E
At first I thought it was some weird creature, but it had no visible eyes and didn’t really look alive, although it was obviously animal in nature. I picked up a stick and turned the object over gently. It didn’t try to move away. Definitely not alive. It looked the same on both sides. No obvious undercarriage.
So then I thought, maybe it’s some dead creature that’s become covered in a thick fungus. It’s summer here in Sydney—hot, humid, lots of fungus on the trees and mould on animal poo in the forest. In fact, I’ve seen animal poo that’s completely white and fuzzy, with long tendrils of mould standing up straight.
Still, the fungus idea didn’t quite fit the bill. The stuff covering this object looked more like fur than fungus.
So I took a photo and moved on.
When I got home and showed my husband the photo of this weird thing I’d seen, he suggested it might be owl’s vomit. They do that, he said. They regurgitate fur and stuff. So I looked it up. Indeed they do.
The official name for owl vomit is owl pellet. I think this one must be from a Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua), because I’ve seen those birds in the same area of the bush before, and because this pellet was big. It was around 6 inches long (15 cm) and 2 inches (5 cm) at its widest.
Here’s a Powerful Owl that I saw a while ago, also at Manly Dam. This owl has its prey (a dead possum) in its grip:
An owl’s pellet consists of fur, bones, and other bits and pieces of its prey that the owl can’t digest. An owl needs to regurgitate a pellet once or twice every night, six hours or more after the owl has eaten.
If you like, you can see more about the Powerful Owls I’ve seen around Manly Dam.
Butcherbird has whiskers!
A few butcherbirds are frequenting my area at the moment. This one is a Grey Butcherbird:
When it tilted its head, I noticed some dark whiskers below its eye:
When it looked upwards, I could make out the whiskers on both sides of its beak:
A full-frontal gaze shows off the white patches (lores) in front of its eyes:
A yawn shows its tongue off nicely:
Here’s a profile to close the post. The hook on the end of the beak is for stabbing prey, which the butcherbird then hangs on a branch or a fence until it’s ready to eat:
Common name: Grey Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus torquatus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 5 January 2019 (Summer)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Growing up – juvenile Powerful Owls near Sydney
Two months ago I spotted a family of Powerful Owls in Manly Dam National Park, near Sydney. Last week I spotted two of them again in the same area of bush. Given their fluffiness, I think these are the two juveniles of the family.
This is what the scene looked like without my camera’s powerful 60x zoom. If you look carefully, you can just make out the two owl-shaped dots in the centre of the picture:
Below is a closer view. It seems to be usual for one bird to be awake and vigilant while the other sleeps:
In this video, the awake owl blinks a slow, wise blink and wiggles its head from side to side in that endearing yet terrifying manner they have. A little later, the call of a passing Currawong attracts the owl’s attention:
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 25 November 2018 (Spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
White-bellied Sea-Eagle at Manly Dam near Sydney
Yesterday I spotted a White-bellied Sea-Eagle flying along the shore of Manly Dam. It flew up and down the shore a few times, and across the water, then landed at the edge of the water in a baylet, with its legs in the water.
I was on the opposite side of the dam, so I couldn’t get a close look at the bird. I did take some photos and videos, but they’re fuzzy and unsatisfactory, although they’re good enough to satisfy me about the identification of the bird. So I decided to record the sighting here, and hope I get to see this beautiful bird again soon.
Common name: White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucogaster
Approximate length: 85 cm. Wing span: 2.2 m
Date spotted: 22 April 2017 (Autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’35.2″S 151°15’08.0″E
Square-tailed Kite at Manly Dam near Sydney
This magnificent bird was sitting quietly in a tree, occasionally squinting down at the path, when I passed by. It’s a Square-tailed Kite – a large bird, at approximately 55 centimetres from head to tail (half a metre) with a wing span of 1.4 metres.
Square-tailed Kites are classified as rare in my bird book. Also, they’re not often seen around Sydney. I identified this one by the white markings around the face, and the characteristically long wing tips. When folded, they’re significantly longer than the tail, as you can see in the photo below:
This video shows the bird having a good grooming session, feathers flying:
In the next video, the bird moves its head back and forward in a slightly eery way, perhaps scanning for prey:
Common name: Square-Tailed Kite
Scientific name: Lophoictinia isura
Approximate length: 55 cm. Wing span: 1.4 m
Date spotted: 15 April 2017 (Autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’35.3″S 151°15’13.3″E
Funny-faced kookaburra
Kookaburras are gorgeous, but sometimes they can look a little goofy.
Here’s the whole bird:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 6 August 2016
Season: Winter
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’55.4″S 151°15’10.3″E
Juvenile Powerful Owl with two adults
Today I went back to a spot in the bush where I’ve seen a Powerful Owl a few times. This time, there were three owls, one of them a juvenile: white and fluffy, with dark patches around its eyes. It heard me, and checked me out:
It’s hard to get a good day’s sleep when you’re an owl. Listen to all the noise they have to put up with from the other birds:
Here’s a still photo of the three owls:
And here’s a rear view of the juvenile:
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 6 October 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’51.0″S 151°14’52.1″E
Powerful Owl roosting
While walking through the bush this morning, I spotted some tell-tale white splatters on the ferns lining the path. I looked up into the trees, and sure enough there was a Powerful Owl high above my head.
The zoom in this short video shows how high up the owl was. You’ll also hear the kookaburras laughing and a couple of cockatoos scolding. The owl doesn’t do much except swivel its head.
Here’s a still shot of the owl gazing into the distance:
Spotted!
Still watching…
Dozing:
A view from the front:
And the view of the owl without my camera’s super zoom:
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 27 July 2014
Season: Winter
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’50.2″S 151°14’54.5″E
Spotted a Sparrowhawk near Manly Dam
It took me a while to identify this bird. I’ve decided it’s a Collared Sparrowhawk. Other candidates were a Brown Goshawk and a Peregrine Falcon. I’ve spent a while poring over my bird book, and decided that this bird doesn’t have a light enough front collar to be a Peregrine Falcon. Deciding between the Goshawk and the Sparrowhawk was even more difficult. Close examination reveals that this bird has middle toes that are longer than the other toes, which qualifies it to be the Sparrowhawk.
Common name: Collared Sparrowhawk
Scientific name: Accipiter cirrhocephalus
Approximate length: 30-40 cm, wing span 55-80cm
Date spotted: 25 December 2013
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33° 46.608′, 151° 15.268′
Here’s a still of the same bird. What a fierce gaze!
This one shows the barred plumage on the bird’s chest, and the long middle toe:
Sydney Birder 