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screech owls nesting in my yard



I have been happy this spring with the bird action in my yard - indigos,
blue grosbeaks, ruby throats, and others at the feeders.    Cedar waxwings
eating the yaupon berries. A Tennesee warbler in the pecan tree yesterday.
Stuff like that.

I have been counting the nests in the yard, too.  House finch and Carolina
wren on the porch, chickadees and bluebirds in houses, cardinals and
mockingbird in the shrubbery.  Downy woodpeckers in a dead limb on the
pecan tree.  Probable nesters included mourning doves, thrashers, catbirds,
titmouses, orchard orioles - just haven't found the nests, yet.

Then, yesterday:

I was sitting in the yard and saw a gray screech owl land on a low pecan
limb.  He sat there looking in the opposite direction while I got the dogs
to the house and Barbara to the yard.  When we returned with the bins, the
gray owl was still on the limb and we could see a red screech owl looking
down at him from the large bird house on the side of that pecan tree.
We're thinking the gray one is the male and the red one is the female.

We've had screech owls in the houses for several years.  However, we
usually see them simply looking out of the house during the day, and a few
times on posts in the lights at night.  This is the first time we're seen
any screech owl out of their house in the daytime.

regards,
St.



Stephen Thomas
stype@sccoast.net
Aynor, SC