Report on Louth Watch Meeting 20-10-19

As the children arrived they were able to chose owl-centred colouring, word search or anagram.

Each child was then given a dissecting tray and an owl pellet, supplied by Roger Briggs.
Mary demonstrated how to tease the pellets apart with forceps and mounted points.
The children enjoyed pulling the pellets apart to discover the bones of small animals that had been
eaten and then regurgitated by the owl. They laid the bones they found carefully in the tray. They used a magnifier to examine the skulls and jaw bones they had separated out. They tried to identify the animal eaten by the owl by consulting a printed guide.

By using the digital microscope they were also able to look more closely at the skulls and bones. They were able to see the jaw and teeth which helped the identification of mainly shrews and voles.
Surprisingly several of the pellets contained the skull of more than one animal.

The children found the dissection really fascinating. They finished the afternoon by colouring an owl picture and attaching autumn coloured 'leaf feathers' to the owl's body. The results were very effective.

Eight children attended.

It was Mary Porter's last visit to a Watch group before her retirement as Administrator.
Thank you Mary.