The Celery Farm & Beyond

Mass. Screech Owl Using Box in August...

I have found that what you think you know about Screech Owls is often not quite true. For example, from observing owl boxes for many years, I had figured that Screech Owls use their nesting boxes as early as late October as as late as early June -- with no activity in July, August or September. Wrong.

An owling friend in Massachusetts writes: "FYI, Had a Screech owl spend  day in one of the boxes Friday Aug. 13-- seems quite unusual. Have you ever had a screech occupancy in the summer?" (No.) 

He posted an item (with photo) on his blog. Link is here.

Cleaning Out the Screech Owl Box

    I finally cleaned out the screech owl box the other day.

   To my surprise, the one egg that hadn't hatched was gone.

   I pushed out all the feathers and wood chips -- all nice and dry -- and closed it up again.

   I will put in new wood chips in early October and hope for another great season.

  I will keep an eye on the inside of the box in the meantime, just to make sure squirrels don't try to move in...

    Damn those squirrels!

   Since I got the video cam to monitor the nest, Mrs. Ace has laid 19 eggs; 18 hatched and successfully left the box. What happened to the unhatched egg this year is anybody's guess.

'Bird Watcher' Column: Screech Owls

   My "Bird Watcher" column today in The Record and Herald News is on one of my favorite birds -- the Eastern Screech Owl.

  The column includes some surprising things I have learned about these secretive birds -- thanks to a tiny videocam in a screech owl nesting box.

   You can read the column -- and support the column -- by clicking here.

Screech Owls' Biggest Nemesis

    Suddenly, a shout rang out.* It was me, yelling to no one in particular after looking out my living room and seeing a new gray face sticking its head out of the Screech Owl nesting box.

   Even from 100 feet, I could see it was no owl. It was Public Enemy No. 1.

   That's right, it was an Eastern Gray Squirrel, one of those the furry mischief-makers who -- went they aren't busy raiding bird feeders -- love to evict Eastern Screech Owls from their nesting boxes and then set up house themselves.

   I have heard from many Screech Owl nesting box proprietors over the years, and they have lost more Screech Owl tenants because of squirrels than for any other reason.

   So far I have found only three counter-insurgency methods that seem to work.

   Can you guess what they are?

   To be continued Friday.

  * See comment to Wednesday's post.

Screech Owl Nesting Box: The Good News

    If you happened to see a guy in a red jacket by my Screech Owl nesting box earlier this month, you'll be relieved to know that the guy was not a wacko but rather a trained nesting-box camera installer, better known as (the legendary) Mike From Philly.

   Mike installed the first mini microphone and mini infrared video cam for the neighborhood Screechers more than three years ago, and the elements finally got to them.

   When the cam and mike crapped out early last fall, I asked the MFP to do a new installation (left). Everything works great.

   And yes, we removed the lens cap.

   Click "Continue reading..."  for more owl cam info.