Report on Louth Watch Meeting Sunday February 12th 2017

The group had an interesting morning at Spout Yard Gallery dissecting owl pellets. Firstly, the children were given anagram puzzles and owl colouring sheets to fill in. Roger Briggs then provided the pellets and demonstrated how to tease the pellets apart with forceps and mounted points.

Each child dissected an owl pellet and laid the bones they found carefully in the tray. It was possible to see many bones from small mammals such as voles and identify them using the printed guide. One larger skull was possibly from a small rat. Some bones were examined under the microscope.

Roger had found some kestrel pellets and they were also examined, as kestrels regurgitate food in a similar way. Remains of insects were found in the pellets

Overall the children were interested and absorbed in the activity. They took bones and owl pellets home to carry on the investigation, as well as some owl fact sheets.

We were pleased that four children managed to come despite the miserable cold wet weather. AH