There have been a number of Great Horned Owl reports from the forest in
Seward Park over the last 3 months, a recent one from someone I trust.
I've not been lucky to see one myself, but today found a pellet that
has piqued my curiosity.

I've been analyzing Barred Owl pellets from the forest for a couple of
years and am very familiar with their general size/shape/etc. The
pellet I found today is at least twice the size of any Barred Owl
pellet I've collected. I've not broken it down yet so can't speak to
the prey.

There's a photo up on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7266639 at N05/3763770631/

The two pellets at the top were collected from under a Barred Owl roost
tree earlier this spring. The one at the bottom is the one I found
today. Its location was more to the north of the area of the sightings,
but I suspect a Great Horned Owl would move about a fairly large area
of the forest.

As far as I know, Great Horned Owls haven't been seen regularly in the
forest for a number of years.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Catherine Alexander
Lakewood neighborhood
South Seattle