Since we settled on the farm property in December and the days were quite short, I spent a good amount of time there in the evenings at sunset.  I have to say the greatest part of winter at the farm is having a view of the setting sun through the barren trees.  The other amazing thing is listening to the owls hooting back and forth.  It just echoes through the woods.  I would stand in awe every single night and just smile.  Wow, we have owls!

Here is a short video taken in December 2022 where you can hear some owl calls in the background.

Even though our primary residence is only a mile away from the farm property, we hadn’t heard an owl call in at least fifteen years.   When the kids were young we did an owl pellet dissection project which got entered in the science division at the county fair. This display took Junior Champion and then overall Grand Champion of the entire science department.  We had ordered the owl pellets online and were completely fascinated at what we found in them.  The kids spent hours identifying the bones and just loved it all.  We would walk around our tiny .20 acre yard under the big oak trees just wishing we could find an owl pellet.  That sure would be the coolest thing!

Science Note: For those who are not familiar with owl pellets, they are the undigested parts of an owl’s food, such as hair or bones, which are regurgitated and coughed up through the beak. They cough them up in a clump that is referred to as a pellet. They can be small and large as it depends on the size of the bird.

Fast forward fourteen years and here we are with an amazing property where we can hear owls!  It was eerie to hear the echoes yet never actually see them.  

Then in early summer while walking around the pasture perimeter I found an owl pellet laying on the fence board!   I couldn’t believe my eyes!  A real owl pellet in the wild!  This was honestly one of the coolest moments so far at the farm and another sign that we were in the right place creating this farm.

A few weeks later while walking the front of the property, I came upon several feathers and I honed in on a tree that appeared to be a nesting area due to some downy feathers around the base.   Upon further inspection, I found several owl pellets!  This indeed must be a nest where babies are residing! 

Now that we had a feather sample, we researched the owl breeds native to the area and I also went back and listened to the calls I had recorded over the winter.   Based on this evidence, it seems we have the largest of the native breeds, the Great Horned Owl.

The owl pellet collection was dissected and lots of small rodent bones and teeth were uncovered. 

How cool it is to have a place in our own nature reserve.  Little things like this have made this journey such a joy.  You never know what you will come across when you explore the grounds of Happy Heritage Farm.