On February 8th my husband Jeff and I acquired an owl box created by a neighbor that built it as a boy scout project.  Our neighbor no longer wanted it so we took it, made some adjustments, added a camera and went to work finding a place in our backyard to place it.  We did our research on the best location, found a good tree stump to attached it to, and started to lift it.  We quickly realized it was not a two person job and rounded up some neighbors to help.  With Craig and Ian's help , we got our box in place and began the wait.  The only setback was the camera moved while putting up the box, so the view is not perfect, but it works.  

On February 11th we had our first owl visit!!  We were very excited but we were still not sure if the owl would make our box his home.  Just one owl came at first.  It came over the next two days, 3-4 times during the night.

A Barn Owl's ear openings are placed just behind the eyes. The feathers on the edge of a Barn Owl's heart-shaped face create a disc, which works to trap and focus sound, rather like our outer ears. Owl ears are each shaped differently from one another. Barn Owl ears are hidden in the feathers at the side of the face. The left ear tracks sound from below, and the right ear from above.

Barn owls live near open fields.  They are often found in empty buildings, like barns.  That is how they got their name.  They also like owl boxes that are high off the ground and near trees.

Barn owls are raptors.  An owl will fly towards the sound of its prey.  His long legs stretch out.  He grabs the mouse (rat, vole or rabbit) with his talons, killing it instantly. 

Barn owls will mate for life.  The male barn owls pull out all the stops to impress their lady loves. During courtship, male barn owls will go out of their way to hunt more in order to present their mate with extra food.  They will also protect their box from other owls