This year Daddy started renting a deserted barn just down the road from us. One time when we peeked into the old silo, we saw a Barn Owl sitting at the top. Every time we were there we peeked into the silo, and each time the owl was there, looking down at us with its cute little monkey face.
One time we heard a scratching sound coming from the old silo pipe. Could there be a nest up there? Later we saw a fuzzy owl peeping out. Daddy went up the ladder on the outside and looked down in. He saw three owls. Two were fuzzier and smaller, but the other owl was not so fuzzy and small. Day after day we would peek into the silo to see the owls. Then one day the baby owls were out of the nest, sitting on the edge of the old chute. After a few more days, the babies flew out of the silo, and we have never seen them since.
Then there was the mystery of the vulture. Every time we went to the barn, a Turkey Vulture would flap around inside when we opened the door. We could smell dead animals! Mama was sure there was a nest somewhere in the barn.
One day Daddy stepped into the barn. He heard a snapping above his head and looked up to see a bird looking down at him from a crack in an old granary. It was a baby Turkey Vulture! Later we got a ladder and looked in. There was one baby Turkey Vulture that was alive and another one that was dead.
The hole in the granary was too small for them to get out or for the parents to get in. We took a board away so the gap would be bigger, and the mother could get to the baby. Later we gave it some meat scraps. The next day the adult Turkey Vulture was in the nest. The next time we came to the barn, they were gone. We never did figure out how or where they got into the granary.
