Wanted:Really Wild Vineyard Workers
What pairs best with California wine? Owls
High above the sunstruck California vineyard, in the heart of premium wine country, Michael McGuire leans out from his perch high on an orchard ladder and flashes down a hand signal: paydirt. He’s peering cautiously into the dark interior of a rectangular wood box bolted to the top of a 15 foot metal pole, up above rows of greening grapevines.
He extends his phone slowly into the box. From inside we hear a faint hissing shriek, like a broken steam pipe. After taking a quick video, McGuire retreats, and quietly backs down the ladder. In the video, we see three big fluffy white owl chicks. They all stare round eyed at the intruder.
It’s mid-spring, and the three fledglings are what we came here to find. It means barn owls have moved in and are nesting here. And that means the chicks’ parents are on the job, keeping Quail Hill Vineyard from being overrun by hungry gophers.
Quail Hill’s 10 owl nesting boxes, staked out around the vineyard, are part of a small but rising trend among local growers.
They’re enlisting wildlife to come help on the farm.
