CJBS - If you were like me when I was in college, I can only imagine what you were doing driving around late at nite!!!
The owls were really cool. They nested at different places around the yard 4 springs in a row. For a couple months each spring we got to observe their behavior on a daily basis like you might only see on a National Geographic show. The range of calls they make is amazing. Sometimes you'd swear there was a couple monkeys out there. It's been a couple years since any have nested here so it makes me wonder what has happened to that pair.
The pics of the owlets were easy. They don't spook, so you could walk right up to the base of the tree and take pictures. The box is about 100' from the back deck, so the pic of the Mom and the lil one was taken by a neighbor whos kind of an amature photographer. I asker her to come take some pictures for us and in exchange fed her tasty homebrews!
For construction plans for the box, I just did some googling and came up with several. I don't think I kept real tight to any of them, though, but took ideas from each. One plan included an "owlet ladder" that I thought was real important. For the last week or so that the owlets are in the nest, they start getting adventurous and like to spend the day roosting outside. But the box is so deep below the hole (about 12"?) that they need a little ladder because their wings are not nearly developed yet. Strangely enough, they don't develop enough to fly for a month or so after leaving, but are able to climb around in the trees with just their feet during which time the parents continue to feed them.
