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22nd Raptor nest box   (meant for Screech Owls and Bats)

ABOVE: 22nd raptor nest box, meant for Screech Owls. Bats can also use the box by clinging to the 1/8" plastic mesh that was attached to the inside walls. This mesh is available for purchase from OBC (Organization for Bat Conservation). Under the entrance are 2 interior perches or toeholds for the Owls. This plywood box has a slippery-surfaced aluminum-covered roof with deep overhangs to deter Gray Squirrels from entering it. The extended exterior sides are also aluminum as a deterrent and were painted to resemble tree bark. It is a front-opening box, which also thwarts squirrels. The box was placed on a tree in a thickly wooded area, because Screech Owls prefer this type of habitat.

The box was mounted on 12/10/02 and its entrance it 10 1/2' high. After learning that Mirant Corporation was actively involved in wildlife habitat remediation, contact was established and a plan proposed, which enabled me to place some boxes of my own. Mirant's Dickerson Station and Westland Ash Site is ideal habitat for Screech Owls, raptors, and other wildlife. In fact, I have seen more Screech Owls here than anywhere else. A Peregrine Falcon nesting platform and various other nest boxes already dot the property. I am very grateful to Mirant and its environmental staff for allowing me to use their land for this winged animal nest box project.

Between winter 2002 and June 2005 some Flying Squirrels have used the box and made a partial nest inside of it. What amazes me is that there is almost no way for Flying Squirrels to enter the box except by air by landing on the front. The slippery aluminum armor prevents other entrance approaches.