How I planned to spend my afternoon: in my pyjamas, eating chocolate and then sound asleep, drool on the pillow asleep, curled up with my dogs.
How I actually spent my afternoon: after happening across a local-ish sighting report on facebook, I instead spent the afternoon back in Wollongong, struggling with poor lighting conditions and being eaten alive by hordes of mosquitos but in the presence of one of my very favourite animals: the Powerful Owl. And as is my ability to manifest pretty much anything I damn well please, no sooner had I turned up then the owl woke up and hacked up a nice big pellet 🙌. Woo hoo! For someone with a genuine vomit phobia I sure do appreciate an owl pellet probably more than I should do! I also was lucky enough to observe it having a bit of a scratch, a stretch and a preen.
These birds are listed as vulnerable in New South Wales which means that they have a 'high risk of extinction in NSW in the medium term future' (office of environment and heritage). And guess what the biggest threats are? The usual suspects: forest clearing, road kills, predation by foxes and cats of the fledglings and secondary poisoning. Gah! Humans we need to do better! And after just one look at this big, handsome lump of perfection, I'm sure you'll all agree!
Powerful Owl
Wollongong Botanic Garden
#wollongongbotanicgarden #powerfulowl #thepowerfulowlproject #owls #nocturalwildlife #backyardzoology
