Beech tree in winter
Eastern Screech Owl
Megascops asio
During February of 2009, I found these two owls trying to avoid detection against a beech tree in my woods. It is amazing how cryptic these gray phase owls are against the gray bark of the beech tree.
A week or two earlier, a large dead tree had fallen in the woods. Presumably, they had a nest hole in that old dead tree, and were now "out of house and home." I immediately bought a nest box and mounted it on another tree in the woods. They have used it on and off since then, but they've had to compete with the squirrels for it. This spring, I removed the box from the tree and mounted it on a pole with a squirrel guard. The owls are using the box now, and presumably have young as I write this. They are remarkably secretive and seldom seen, but I fully expect to see some fuzzy faces peering from the nest box hole in the coming weeks.
Beech tree in winter
Eastern Screech Owl
Megascops asio
During February of 2009, I found these two owls trying to avoid detection against a beech tree in my woods. It is amazing how cryptic these gray phase owls are against the gray bark of the beech tree.
A week or two earlier, a large dead tree had fallen in the woods. Presumably, they had a nest hole in that old dead tree, and were now "out of house and home." I immediately bought a nest box and mounted it on another tree in the woods. They have used it on and off since then, but they've had to compete with the squirrels for it. This spring, I removed the box from the tree and mounted it on a pole with a squirrel guard. The owls are using the box now, and presumably have young as I write this. They are remarkably secretive and seldom seen, but I fully expect to see some fuzzy faces peering from the nest box hole in the coming weeks.