In an abandoned barn on one of the Conservancy’s preserves, I am usually scared out of my wits when this barn owl flies passed me and heads for a gap in the door. Over the weekend, I went into the barn to inspect for any storm damage and the barn owl just watched me. Maybe it had an eye on some rodent in the old hay bales rotting away on the floor, and didn’t want to abandon its perch. Either way, it enabled me to get a good photo of it. The way I see it, the barn owls on the preserve do what they can to avoid the great horned owl that rules the area. Already this year, I have seen two barn owl remains on the ground, and they’d been worked over pretty good. And I have watched the great horned owls roust the barn owls out of the barn several times. This is a tough life being lower on the food chain…
One Against Many?
The Conservancy uses a variety of tools to manage vegetation on its preserves, guided by a strategy known as “the soft path first.” One of those tools is grazing. Over the years, the Conservancy has used large grazing animals to manage marsh and adjacent upland vegetation, including Hereford, Black Angus, …