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Posted by Jim Harris on 16:07:15 03/29/09
I live on an acre on a lake in Davie which is heavily landscapped with numerous large trees. About three years ago I purchased a birdhouse for a Red-bellied Woodpecker and hung it high up in a tree. Well I did not get any woodpeckers but the squirrels made the 2" hole a little bigger and for the past two years I have had Eastern Screech Owls nesting in the house. This past year, the squirrels chewed about a six inch hole in the house, so I took it down in December and put a piece of wood over the entrance and made a 2" entrance hole in hope of attracting woodpeckers.
In the meantime, I went Friday and purchased an 8 foot piece of cypress from Shell Lumber to build a Screech Owl house off some plans that I got on the internet from the State of Missouri. Today I built the house with a 3" entrance hole and went to hang the new Screech Owl house where the woodpecker house is and to relocate the woodpecker house to another tree 175 feet away. Well, when I climbed the ladder and looked in the "woodpecker house" with the 2" entrance hole, there staring me in the face was a Eastern Screech Owl (Gray Phase). I immediately retreated and left the house where it was.
I realized that I should have built the new Screech Owl house a couple of months ago. My question, should I put up the new screech owl house in the other tree 175 feet away in hopes of attracting the current owl to the newer, bigger house or wait until next year? I am afraid that the owl that I have might be happy with his current home and I might get another screech owl competing for a limited food source. I do not know if the one that I have has a mate or he is just looking for a home because this is the first that I had seen one this year. I would appreciate any suggestions.
P.S. Based on the information furnished by Roger Hammer, I purchased the Vector Stokes DSL 8x42 binoculars from Eagle Optics and I am very happy with the selection.
Also, the Painted Buntings are still in my yard. They usually depart in April.
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