Aled, the European Eagle owl, came down to the office yesterday and we had quite a long chat.
He’s a very big owl – much bigger than me – but he is really very gentle. Donald Dunnock spends a lot of time with him as he says there are lots of spiders and things at the back of his aviary. Aled likes to have Donald do some of his housework!
Aled showed me a picture Jenni had taken on her way home.
She has to cross the mountains South of here and she says it is sometimes very cold up there. Aled and I are worried about all the wild owls because it is very difficult for them to feed when there is snow on the ground. After a fortnight of cold snowy weather, all the voles and mice and things that they normally catch will be staying well out of sight underground and in any kind of shelter, they can find. Although we owls can go a few days without food, it does make us very weak and ill if we don’t eat for so long.
There is not much we can do except pharmacy-no-rx.net make sure that there are as many voles, mice and other small things living out there. Farmers are doing some good work by leaving more rough ground and wider edges to their fields where these animals can live. If you don’t have a field you can still help in your garden by leaving a “habitat pile” where voles and insects and even toads will find a home.
Your habitat pile can be a pile of twigs and dry leaves that you clear up when tidying your garden.
You could ask your teachers if you could do the same thing on the grounds of your school. After a while, it would be fun to watch it very quietly to see if you could spot anything using it as a home. You might even find a hedgehog in it later on in the Spring.
You can also build a “mini-bug hotel” like this one made by Glassllwch Primary School.
You can find out more about what they have been doing at http://www.glasllwch.org.uk/
Why not send me some photos of the things you have been doing to make homes for wildlife?
Lots of hoots and love,
Otis
