One of our screech owl houses has a new occupant. For the first few days, it was quite difficult to capture a picture of her — she was reluctant to stay visible when we were in the backyard. But each day she’s watched us for longer period of times and seems to realize we’re not going to fly up there after her.
This afternoon she let me approach quite near her, not even bothering to watch me like a hawk an owl. In fact, she closed her eyes and snoozed for some of the time I was taking pictures.
You can tell in the pictures that she’s backlit by the sun in the afternoons — I keep trying to get a picture of her in the morning, but she always seems to prefer getting right to sleep after a night’s hunt. What’s up with that?!!
She’s also the most vocal owl we’ve had to date. Either that, or she’s got a male trying to get her attention — ooh, I hope so!
Hoot , scoot, bootie!
How exciting! We just posted today about the screech owl box we recently built and installed here. I do hope a lovely Western Screech moves in to our box soon. Your owl looks quite pleased with herself! Congratulations!
That is so cool! Great photographs. It is amazing that she let you get that close.
How lovely to have an owl in the garden! How did the owl know the house was meant for it? Oh dear! Now I am thinking of getting an owl house.
I love your owl and owl house. I have been thinking about getting one and now my mind is made up…so cute…and I have just the right food for owls…voles
What a great post, Meredith. Love it. Hope to see more of Mr. Hoot Owl.
Oh, I’ll bet the whole family enjoyed the extended view of the owl?! Are you planning to “name” her? You captured some great photos, even with the lighting. Very nice!
Woot!!! Caught this post on FB. I’m so excited for you (and jealous). Now I want an owl bow too.
What an amazing tenant to have on your property! Are owl boxes a “build it and they’ll come” situation, or do you only put them up if you know you’ve got owls around your house? Love the shot of her napping.
Thanks, everyone! Yes, if you are thinking about building an owl house, I highly recommend you do — we used the Audubon plans, but be sure to check out the modifications Curbstone Valley Farm made. We actually put up two houses last year, and within three weeks we had two residents. This year, so far, we only have one owl, but she seems quite content. Amy, screech owls are common in our area, so if you put up a house, I’ll bet it’s only a matter of time before they find it. And PlantPostings, I’ll get right on the task of naming “our” owl — great idea!
Oh how wonderful – an owl on your turf!! The photographs are fabulous.
These are some incredible pictures! I had no idea that you could build houses specifically for owls. Congratulations on your new resident, and thanks for the inspiration!
She is just gorgeous! And a true ‘night owl’ 🙂
Great photos Meredith! I just wonder how this little owl got to the box before the squirrels did! Have you ever had the squirrels trying to take over your bigger nesting boxes? Or would this little girl evict the squirrels?
Wow, great shots! How exciting! I was going to say I feel so honored when an animal takes up residence in my garden, but I’m not sure I feel that way about the possums, raccoons, and skunks. A hoot owl, though — now, we’re talking! Very cool 🙂
How thrilling to have her take up residence in your box, Meredith! She’s a beauty…and you’ve got some great shots there!
So cute! We have an owl also, and I’ll be posting more pics of him/her soon. Do you know whether a nesting owl is female, or do paired owls share a box?
Our owl this year is quite shy. Last year’s owl would let us approach for a closer look anytime we liked. Isn’t it interesting how individual owls can have such different personalities?
Hi, Pam. To my knowledge a male will sometimes stay in an “apartment” nearby the female but doesn’t occupy the main house where eggs are. He’ll help feed the young, though. I don’t know for sure whether our owl is female, but last year when I had two owls in two boxes, one was substantially larger than the other, so I made the assumption the larger one was the female. This year, our owl is as large as the female last year, so I again I assume ours is female. The male/smaller owl last year was the shyer of the two in terms of pictures, too. But that could just be a personality thing and not have anything to do with gender.