Barn Owls nested in this owl box in 2011 and are also using it in 2012. I first noticed Barn Owls at this box on June 9, 2011, when I was driving by at night. I parked and could hear owls (young?) calling in the box – I imagine they were “scheuh”-ing but I didn’t describe the calls in my notebook. I could see an adult Barn Owl in the box on June 16 and also got a brief view of a second owl. I thought it was a nestling but wasn’t sure. I went to check it out at night and could hear “scheuh”-ing coming from the box. However, I couldn’t see any owls and no adults came to box while I was watching. The next day, I could see an adult in the box once again.

So far in 2012, I've seen an adult in the box on May 11 and 31, and on June 11; all of these observations were during the day. The pictures were taken on June 16, 2011.

I first observed activity at this nest on March 14, 2011. I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling in a residential neighborhood and then found a hawk sitting in a nest near the top of a scraggly-looking pine tree (most of the needles were near the top). A second Red-shouldered Hawk was in the area calling. The hawk in the nest left and they circled around a bit, then flew out of the area.

A month later, on April 14, there was a hawk sitting in the nest (I could see its tail extending out from the side of the nest). I waited 5 minutes, and then a second Red-shouldered Hawk quietly flew in (no calling). The one on the nest stood up. They were both in the nest for about a minute. Then the first hawk flew off. It called a few times as it flew off, not very loudly and not until it was a little ways from the nest. The second hawk sat down in the nest and settled in. It still seemed to be in same position about 15 minutes later.

On May 19, 2011, there were two small downy nestlings in the nest. There was no sign of the parents. I was in the area for about 10-15 minutes.

On June 16, 2011, there were two large nestlings in the nest. When I first arrived, there was only one in the nest and I was worried that the other had been blown out in the gusty wind the night before. But after about 10 minutes, the second nestling jumped down into the nest. Later, one was climbing on the branches above the nest. I stayed for about 1 hour, but the parents never came. The young were calling.

Pictures: the pictures were taken on June 16. The last picture shows the nest tree, with the nest circled in red. The nest was not very substantial and was placed on the outer part of a limb. It seemed to be made of small sticks and pine needles, with some feathers visible around the rim.