Jops' Owls

The birds in my backyard are the usual suspects in most urban homes: the Eurasian Tree Sparrows (aka Maya), Yellow-vented Bulbuls, Pied Fantails, Zebra Doves and Olive-backed Sunbirds. We also have a resident Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker and the occasional White-collared Kingfisher and Black-naped Orioles. During the fruiting season of the mango trees, we have lots of Colasisis hanging out too. But that's about it.

I bet the list is pretty much the same (plus-minus a couple of other species) in urban backyards throughout Manila so imagine our surprise when we heard an immature Philippine Scops Owl (PSO) calling in Jops' backyard! He'd been hearing an adult owl calling a few months back but never got to spot it. Just last April 9 (our second bird day!) we came home to an immature PSO calling and sounding very close. Its call  is completely different from the adult's, having a more high pitched "pssssst - pssssst" sound. After a bit of searching, we finally saw the fluffy bird perched not too high up a mango tree. It stayed a while for a couple of nights in the same tree, perched quite low.

This is one of the two immature Philippine Scops Owls in his backyard. PHOTO BY JOPS.

It took me a couple of days before I was able to see the adult owls. Seeing them was an amazing experience in itself but the fact that it was in Jops' backyard made it even more fantastic. Who would have thought?! We've been hearing stories from other birders about seeing PSOs in the UP Diliman campus but we haven't been able to see them.

This is one of the adult owls in his backyard. Much harder to spot! PHOTO BY JOPS.

As the days progressed, the owls have been a bit more difficult to spot. Their calls would be heard coming from the trees in the adjacent houses. Some nights they would come back to Jops' garden and some nights they would stay further away. I guess with the young ones learning to fly and hunt, they needed lots of "practice area" as they got better and better at it =)

A few afternoons ago, Jops and I tried looking for their day roost. We scanned the trees in their backyard but the owls weren't there. We politely asked his neighbors if we could enter and scan the trees in their gardens for the owls. The neighbors were pleasantly surprised when we told them they had owls in their backyard, and seeing their amazed reactions when we told them we weren't joking was priceless. Their house help confirmed seeing the owls and even told us matter-of-factly, "Ay oo, may anak yung mga kuwago. Dalawa." ("Oh yes, the owls have babies. Two.") which confirmed our earlier speculation that we were hearing two individuals. We scanned the trees and the area beneath them. No owls but we saw splotches of poo on the ground under a low perch in their mango tree....

We first saw white splotches of poo in an area
under their mango tree.

... and also some feathers...

We saw one big feather and lots of the tiny, baby feathers too!

... we also found one pellet!!!

Can you see the round pellet in the middle of the photo?

Here's a better look at the single pellet we collected. We have yet to
examine its contents! 

The PSO's pellet looks completely different from that of the pellets of the Philippine Eagle Owl, but that's another blog =)

So, the story continues with Jops' Philippine Scops Owl family, each night yielding a different experience. Some nights they call early, some nights quite late. There are nights they pass through Jops' backyard, other nights they spend in the neighbors trees. I feel lucky enough to have seen the immature owls and the adult owls, hear them calling nearby while having dinner and conversation with good friends (Trinket writes about it in her blog), see the baby owl slurp down a lizard, and even find a pellet. It is a lucky break and a HUGE blessing to have such wonderful backyard birds!

Boiling Me Some Bones

Exam week has officially passed and my "teacher mode" has been switched from "hyper" back to "normal." The bones from the Philippine Eagle Owl pellets I collected two weeks ago have remained in their sealed plastic container on my desk... until this afternoon.

I finally had time to sit down and examine them once again. I remembered Trinket's advice to boil the bones in water to remove any dirt and debris. Seeing her online, I quickly sent her a chat message to confirm what I had to do before I went about brewing the bones. I looked for an old, unused pan from our dirty kitchen and asked permission from my mom to do what I wanted to do. After giving me an odd look, she finally agreed.

I took out the four bones I was able to collect from two separate owl pellets. From the first pellet, I was able to collect a skull and a mandible (or jaw bone.) 

The second pellet I saw had bones from an animal's extremities.

I tried my best to brush and wipe off the dirt before dropping them in the boiling water.

My bone collection in a pan of boiling water.

I let them stay in the boiling water for only a minute before I took them out and laid them on paper towels to dry. I still had to clean the inside of the skull some more but had to be extra careful since the molars attached to the skull were getting a bit loose already.

At this point, my mom and brother were looking at each other while I worked on my bones. But because they love me and have ever since known me as a bit weird, they gave me my space and left me alone =).

This is the underside of the skull before being dried completely. There were still some debris in the cavities that I had to gently poke out with a toothpick and brush off.

Can you see the molars? Some teeth were already missing when I collected this skull.

This is the mandible I collected in the same pellet as the skull. The teeth are soooo small they're amazing to see up close! And with no cavities even without brushing, mind you!

These are the bones collected from another pellet. I still cannot identify which bones they are. The shorter bones I can't be sure of but they look like forearm bones (radius and ulna.) The longer one looks like a femur to me but I can't be sure. Help!

Trinket was wonderful enough to send me a resource to help identify bones found in pellets. She shared with me a copy of a "Owl Pellet Bones Sorting Chart" from the Nature-Watch website (happiness!!!) =) Below is a portion of the chart she so generously shared with me.

Looking at the chart, I could identify the skull and mandible I collected as those of a rodent! The other bones I am still not sure of however. I can't wait to find my next owl pellets and examine what I find!

THANK YOU TRINKET FOR THE HELP AND THE LINK! I OWE YOU =)

Owls, Pellets and Petroglyphs

I've only recently learned about owls regurgitating pellets. I've also only recently learned about the petroglyphs in Angono. So when WBCP friend Vincent reported seeing an owl in the area, it would be a double treat for me!

En Route

It took us an hour and thirty minutes to drive to the site from Quezon City, with a brief Jollibee stopover for take-out breakfast. We drove through Imelda Avenue (which reminded me of the road conditions in Candaba.) We pushed further on towards the Thunderbird Resort (just follow the signs), left an ID at the guardhouse and missed the cave entrance to the site. If you're coming from the Cainta route, watch out for the BACK of this sign:

If you're coming from the Antipolo route, you'll be greeted with
the front of the sign.

The guard at the next gate, told us we missed the entrance to the petroglyph site by a few meters. We made a u-turn and saw the tunnel opening. Coming from Cainta, it will be on your left.

We parked before this tunnel, spent a few minutes observing some Tawny Grassbirds just beside our car, and then went in. It was a short walk from this point to the mini-museum in the site. Unfortunately, it was closed the time we were there since they were setting up an exhibit. We registered, paid the P20.00 entrance fee and walked up to the view deck.

The view deck to see the petroglyphs.
I love view decks!!! Perfect for dude birding!

Pellets

When we saw our first owl at the start of the year, it was only then that I learned that owls, like some other birds, regurgitate the indigestible parts of the prey they eat. Since they don't have teeth to chew their food, owls tear apart their meal and swallow large chunks whole. In their gizzard, the bones, fur and feathers are separated from the softer, digestible parts. The harder materials are then formed into a pellet and is expelled before the owl eats another meal. Amazing right?!

I was so excited to see my first owl pellet but I honestly completely forgot about them when I saw the Philippine Eagle Owl atop a mango tree.

Philippine Eagle Owl Bubo philippensis

I was so engrossed looking at this beautiful bird staring back down at me that I needed Jops to remind me about looking for some pellets! I took one last long look at the owl, then backtracked to scan the ground. At first I was strictly looking for rounded balls of hair and fur but didn't find any. Since I haven't seen any pellets before, I didn't really know what I was looking for. But then my eyes focused on a clump of bones! It was a semi-disintegrated pellet! 

The first pellet I found wasn't round anymore, but I could see a skull, part of a mandible,
some smaller bones and clumps of hair! My first owl pellet!

I then started noticing lots of bones and clusters of hair around the spot where I was standing! This owl has been eating A LOT! We also found some feathers on the ground. 

I collected some bones and a couple of feathers to examine closer. The small skull intrigued me since it had
tiny molars(!), also on the accompanying mandible it came with in the same pellet.

Petroglyphs

After getting my fill of the owl pellets, I took some time to study the petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are prehistoric carvings or line drawings on rocks. The 127 drawings on the rock face in front of me were discovered in the 1960's by National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco while camping in the area. 

The rock face where the petroglyphs can be seen.

According to the guide, Sir Roden, the petroglyphs were found to be dating back to the Neolithic Period which is around 3,000BC. Among the drawings, there are 51 distinct types which means that 51 different individuals contributed to the drawings at different times. These include human figures which are being associated with rituals (as evidenced by the bent arms and legs of the figures) and animal figures.

Can you make out the figures?

Another Owl!

We spent the rest of the morning in the view deck, enjoying the mixed flock of birds that would come and go around us. Elegant Tits, Lowland White-Eyes, Black-naped Monarchs would fly noisily overhead while a White-throated Kingfisher would make some appearances too. Philippine Coucals would skulk around before gliding above us towards the golf course below. We heard lots of rails and even a pitta calling! Suddenly, Jops was saying "Hello there!" to something on the wall, as if speaking to a baby. I looked up and saw the head of another Philippine Eagle Owl, peering at us from a crevice on the wall!

"Hello there!" indeed! It was so cute and it looked so fluffy!

It showed itself for a few minutes before moving deeper back into its "cave." We allowed ourselves to bird til noon. At exactly 12:00, we left the place happy with a full morning spent with the owls and petroglyphs plus 23 species in our bird list. =)