At the Arnstein outcrop, something else now claimed the pillow basalts for a home. During the examination of an outcrop, human voices startled a large owl that flew silently away. Peckmann identified the owl as an uhu, an endangered species. “Time for us to leave,” he said. Two small chicks looking more like a leftover bundle of fluff awaited their mother’s return. The pillow basalts, it seems, are still providing ecological niches.

Note: This story was originally published with the title, "Life in Old Lava".

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