Looking up through a skylight I wondered about the large grey sausage adhered to the glass. Some days or perhaps weeks later I went up on the roof and discovered the best part of a small skeleton encased in a tight felt cocoon. On opening the package a pair of mandibles appeared and from the dentition I was able to identify the remains of a brush tail possum. Only one animal will eat a possum and drop the remains in the form of a pellet; the Powerful Owl, Ninox strenua
The pellet is the indigestible portion of a possum meal and it was coughed up from a roost in the Angophora tree that grows over our house. In the following months I found gizzards dropped on the roadway and later the dismembered wings of a fruit bat.
At night in the winter, more often after rain, the Powerful Owl can be heard calling. Locals have different theories about where the owls may nest, roost and hunt. Perhaps they are occasional visitors, perhaps we share a pair with Bundeena.
The powerful owl is listed as a vulnerable species due mainly to habitat clearing. We are fortunate indeed to have them here in Maianbar
To hear a recording of a Powerful Owl calling click on this soundcloud link
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