Nest Boxes

We've been building nest boxes and bird houses in our spare time using scraps of wood I find at work. We've come up with some very nice designs I must say. They're all shapes and sizes for the various songbirds and raptors we have here on our twelve acres. We hope to get to watch a pair of Screech Owls raise their young in the owl nest box to the left. We can see the box from the house so we won't have to intrude on their privacy to watch the nest.

It's mounted about 18 feet off the ground in a mature white pine tree. The broken branches around the box can be used as perches. It's recommended that an owl nest box be mounted beneath a branch.

My cousin across the road gave me two wooden duck/owl nest boxes along with this fiberglass model, which Jim mounted on a pole right at the edge of the pond. It remains to be seen what bird species will be interested in nesting in such a habitat. I've read the wood ducks raise their young in wooded areas then lead them to water after they hatch. Mallards nest on the ground in grass, so I doubt they'll want to use it. Perhaps owls will? As soon as I find out I'll be sure to write about it.