A few months ago we travelled west towards Mildura via the Hay Plain.
There were dozens of dead owls on the road, including numerous Barn
Owls. Whether a coincidence or not, there was also a major mouse plague
on at the time.
There may be a pattern that the owls breed up on the autumn mice
increases or mouse plague occurrences in the wheat belt and then
disperse when the mice numbers plummet with the advent of cold and wet
weather.
It might also explain why so many of them appear to be in trouble when
they get here.
On 26/08/2011 10:37 AM, Ian Fraser wrote:
Being harassed out of the shelter belt of casuarinas at the western
end of the Weston Creek shops by a gang of at least a dozen P
Currawongs and a couple of magpies. I assume this means that the owl
is at least a potential threat to nestlings of those species, but the
relevant volume of HANZAB is on loan at present so I can't check it.
happy weekend all
Ian
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