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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Birding - Screech Owl Nest Box Installed


“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” - Maya Angelou

A few days ago I posted a blog about plans for a DIY project to build a screech owl house and wanted to give an update.  I built three owl nest boxes over the last couple of days with the help of my uncle and the use of his wood shop.  I installed the first one today and will install the other two in the next few days.  

I did make a few couple of improvements to the plans.  First on the back I angled the top of the board at 45 degrees to shed rainfall.  I also "etched" the inside of the box under the opening to roughen it up a bit.  This will make it easier for owlets to climb to the opening (if using rough lumber this will not be required).  

I stained the outside of the box with a light color stain to keep the home cooler in the summer and installed about 2 inches of wood chips in the bottom of the box to keep the eggs from rolling around (installing wood chips is recommended for cavity nestor's). 

Humor for the day - A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.
First, of course, he had to take an eyesight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters:
'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
"Can you read this?" the optician asked.
"Read it?" the Polish guy replied, "I know the guy."

3 comments:

Joanne Olivieri said...

Nicely crafted box. I like the look and feel of it.

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

I didn't know you could make boxes for the little screechers. I love them! I think they are my favorite owl.

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