I love building stuff things enjoy using

[Duane N]

Congratulations!! The house looks great too. That's fantastic that you got an owl so quickly. Screechers are so cool!!

We had bluebirds here this spring so we ran down to the shop and knocked out two bluebird houses & hung them on the best trees in the yard. They barely took notice. They were in the neighborhood all summer but rarely here. Now, all of a sudden we've seen 6 to 8 bluebirds inspecting the houses inside and out several different times! Hopefully we'll get a nesting pair next spring!! Woo Hoo!

g

There was a pair that used 2 of the owl boxes last winter I have in the yard and I actually live streamed on Youtube the cameras I have in the boxes until the computer died.  The owls returned last month so they were already showed a presence in my yard and my neighbors yard so it didn't happen overnight.

I hope you get some Bluebirds next spring.  They pick a nest site in the winter from what I'm told so hopefully having them check out the nest boxes is a good sign for you.

[Duane N]

BTW, can you hear these guys calling ever?

I hear Screech Owls from time to time in my neighborhood and what got me to build a nest box last year...apparently they liked them and moved in.  I hear Great-horned Owls mostly at night around hear.

[badwhiskey]

Wow that looks great!

[Hank Knight]

That's very cool! I love owls. A friend of mine was trimming dead fronds from a palmetto tree in her back yard and found this little guy. He sat perfectly still while she went and got her camera and took his photo.

IMG_1109 by Hank Knight, on Flickr

[stav]

Very cool. Will you be sharing the feed from your Owl-cam?

[FS7]

I want to try some owl boxes. I have mostly Barred Owls, which do not nest in boxes. However, we are in range for many woodland owls, and I hear Great Horned Owls often. Screech owls I'm sure are around and I may try that.

Bluebirds can be picky. They actually prefer fields, and they prefer their opening facing east. They do like to be near wooded areas, just not in them. I have a box on a 2x2 post in the middle of the yard (almost) and it gets used. The cool thing about bluebirds is that they will raise several clutches of eggs throughout the nesting season, and then roost in there off and on through the winter. You're lucky if you get them using nest boxes attached to trees.

[Duane N]

Very cool. Will you be sharing the feed from your Owl-cam?

Yes, once I get the new computer built and get all the camera wires buried in the ground I plan on live streaming the video feed from 4 cameras hooked to a DVR on Youtube.

Here's my channel I live stream on....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcRLUi0..._polymer=1

[Duane N]

I want to try some owl boxes. I have mostly Barred Owls, which do not nest in boxes. However, we are in range for many woodland owls, and I hear Great Horned Owls often. Screech owls I'm sure are around and I may try that.

Bluebirds can be picky. They actually prefer fields, and they prefer their opening facing east. They do like to be near wooded areas, just not in them. I have a box on a 2x2 post in the middle of the yard (almost) and it gets used. The cool thing about bluebirds is that they will raise several clutches of eggs throughout the nesting season, and then roost in there off and on through the winter. You're lucky if you get them using nest boxes attached to trees.

I have 3 Bluebird boxes in my yard.  2 face west and one faces north and all three get used either by Bluebirds, House Wrens or Carolina Chickadees.  Year before last the resident pair of Bluebirds raised 19 offspring (4 nests) in a season but usually it's only 3 nests in a season for them.  I remember the female incubating eggs with snow on the ground...we had a weird spring that year.  My nest boxes are mounted on 4 X 4's out in the open but near a tree or large bush because the male will talk to the female as she is incubating eggs and guards the nest box from Wrens.

[FS7]

I have 3 Bluebird boxes in my yard.  2 face west and one faces north and all three get used either by Bluebirds, House Wrens or Carolina Chickadees.  Year before last the resident pair of Bluebirds raised 19 offspring (4 nests) in a season but usually it's only 3 nests in a season for them.  I remember the female incubating eggs with snow on the ground...we had a weird spring that year.  My nest boxes are mounted on 4 X 4's out in the open but near a tree or large bush because the male will talk to the female as she is incubating eggs and guards the nest box from Wrens.

Do you clean out the nesting material in the winter? I usually do. They will keep on building nests right over top of the old stuff, but eventually it will fill up. It takes a few years, but depending on the size of the box they can be more vulnerable to predators if the nest is too near the hole. I have also read that mold and mildew can cause health problems for the birds, but that's probably in a very worst case scenario.

Wrens are pesky little buggers when it comes to nesting. I have had them nest in wreaths on our door, in every little planter we have, hanging or otherwise...you name it. They are pretty good at keeping watch also.

[Duane N]

Do you clean out the nesting material in the winter? I usually do. They will keep on building nests right over top of the old stuff, but eventually it will fill up. It takes a few years, but depending on the size of the box they can be more vulnerable to predators if the nest is too near the hole. I have also read that mold and mildew can cause health problems for the birds, but that's probably in a very worst case scenario.

Wrens are pesky little buggers when it comes to nesting. I have had them nest in wreaths on our door, in every little planter we have, hanging or otherwise...you name it. They are pretty good at keeping watch also.

With my Bluebird boxes I clean them a day or two after they young fledge and scrub the inside with a mild bleach/water solution and let it dry out.  Usually my Bluebirds have another nest already built in another box before the young fledge the previous box and why I have several boxes up in my yard.  The Bluebirds are very productive in my back yard. I keep tabs on the House Wrens because they can fill every box in my yard with sticks and prevent the Bluebirds from nesting so I will remove sticks every day or two and the Wrens eventually give up and move to my neighbors yard (
  ) .