I hung this wood duck box near my garage in an old Maple. Squirrels been using it for the last few years. This morning I thought a squirrel was sticking his head out till I looked closer.

Best I can tell a young great horned owl has taken over.

Nice to have a hunting buddy around.

Very cool..I have boxes out but no luck yet..

Might be a screech owl.

MP

If it's a screech owl then it won't take too long to figure it out once he starts talking.

Neat picture but Great Horned would be much bigger even if juvenile this time of year.

Screech Owl.BTW the other owls say it's not trad living in a box.:)

I thought Screech at first but thought it looked too big. Maybe not.

Beautiful bird.

If it was Trad it would be wearing wool!!!!

Oh no, when it gets cold, I switch to down.

I love when they stay in my shed. No mice chewing up my stuff or birds pooping on it either. I had a old sprayer that was no longer used and had one build a nest on the one boom. Really miss that bird when it left.

Bjrogg

Their call is one of weirdest sounds you’ll ever hear in the woods. It kinda creeps you out, even if you’ve heard it before.

MP

Looks like the flying squirrel in my bird house. Or not!

A few years ago I had a screech owl living in a hole in an apple tree outside my back door. Every time id fire up my tractor after dark to haul in fire wood it would join me at the wood pile. Im not sure why it was attracted to my tractor but I enjoyed his company.

You should hear one living in your house fire up in the middle of the night!

Thats neat, I need to build some bird and bat boxes.

Love owls. We seem to have an abundance of barred owls(think the turkey roosting "who cooks for you" hoot calls) in my neighborhood. I know they can call for reasons other than mating, but this year we had what I assume was a male I nicknamed "Lonesome George". He was striking out big time in the dating game, started in late March and unless it was other birds kept it up through August. All hours of the day and night....felt half sorry for him.

owls are too cool

Agreed, not a horned owl but a screech owl. I am a falconer and flew a horned owl up until her passing last year.

I have barred owls that hang out where I hunt. I hear them all fall every day before dark. One starts the other will answer. So I know it's not just a mating call.

We had a colony of flying squirrels for several years before the owls moved in. I don't know if the flyers moved on or became dinner. Either way I enjoy the owls just the same.

Great picture Grant :)

I love owls... they are a hoot! Cool pic!

Had this guy in my backyard a few years ago.

You're right Jack, I'm pretty good a mimicking the barred owls call. My wife and I were sitting by a campfire a few years back and one called off in the woods. I answered. A few times of that and it landed in the tree right next to us looking for me.

Tony...that's a barred owl.

Glad you have a new neighbor.

Had a barred owl land in the sapling tree next to my tree stand, I looked up at it and it looked down on me, then it took off. Great experience.

Called in a great horned owl during a hunt once.

Cool picture.

Remember when I was a kid I caught a screech owl and carried it the basement to show Dad and my uncle as they were working on the washing machine. Man did I get thrown of out of the house. LOL

Friday I was out for the last day of regular bow season. I was walking along a hedge row, and a Coopers hawk landed in a tree ahead of me about 40 yards. I had a leafy head net on and full camo. I stopped and watched him. After about a minute, he took off headed straight at me. Gliding right for my face! He got ten feet away and I raised my bow to block him and he veered off. Pretty strange experience, never had that happen before. hawkeye, when I was a kid, I caught an adult possum with my mink glove on, and it bit down on it. I thought 'Cool, I'll show Mom!'. Took it in the house and got an ass-chewing big time.' 'Get that thing out of here, You're gonna get rabies!". LOL!

Jus Passin, I knew a girl in Oregon who worked for ODFW calling spotted owls in to take number counts. She could hoot them right in to trees next to her.

Yup, I have the "who cooks for you" call down pat.

TrapperKayak, I've had the same experience in a tree stand. I had almost dozed off and glanced up and when here comes either a Coopers or Redtail banking and veering through the tree limbs like some crazed fighter pilot. I also had a headnet on, but he seemed to be locked on my eyes. He had just started to come out of his tuck with talons extended when I reacted and he veered off at the last second. Lit on a tree limb and glared at me for a few seconds as surprised as I was, but I didn't doze off anymore after that.

Yikes, imagine having both sets of talons locked on your peepers...bad news!

Olddog same experience with a facemask we call it the hawk stand now

Years and years ago I was rifle hunting with a Buddy in Middle GA on a dark overcast new moon morning. His name was Sammy Jean, one of the funniest guys that I ever met but he was a subdivision guy and new to our lease. We were in stands on a doe day about 150-200 yards apart in dead pitch black, Sammy had Remington 742 and a Screech Owl called out right near him. About 2 seconds later Sammy a over civilized subdivision dweller yelled ou "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! What the Hell was that???" The startled Screech Owl called out again followed by BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. about 2 minutes later Sammy showed up at my stand out of breath and bullets sweating like a Kentucky Derby winner. The mind plays strange tricks on some folks and a screech owl can be the biggest booger in the woods. ;)

Being a coon hunter I have den boxes all over my property. I usually check them in the late winter or early spring to see if any coons are using them. Climb the tree with a climber type tree stand and stick a camera in the box and take a photo. Last year I get up to the box and an owl like I have never seen pokes his head out before I get there. Not very big, but very strange looking. I get home and look up owls and find he's a "long eared owl". Looked like a vampire like animal!!! I don't know what kind of noise they make, but I have a lot of fun talking to the barred owls when I am in the woods at night. Bought a Down-n-Dirty Boogeyman owl call and what a blast. I think they call it "caterwalling" when owls bark back and forth.

“OWL” just say I don’t give a “HOOT” “WHO’s” house this was. I DUCKED in and SQUIRRELED it away for myself. (Sorry I’m tired!)

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