Although screech owls have roosted or nested in my owl box during the two previous years, this season was the only one that I know with any certainty that a complete success.

   (Yes, that's a photo of a very healthy screech owlet at the opening! It was taken last week.)

   The main reason I am certain of the outcome was, of course, the video-cam.  The video-cam allowed me to observe and safely track what was happening inside -- that there was an owl, and to follow the pair through incubation and nestling stages.

    Reason: Flashing makes it harder for raccoons and other potential predators to get into the box.

    Outcome: There was no predation of  eggs or owlets. 

   Reason: When owlets leave the nesting box, they invariably jump (and fall) to the ground; they are too young yet to fly. So it makes sense to clear the ground they'll fall upon.

   Reason: Once the owlets fall to the ground, they look for a nearby tree with a branch where they can climb to safety and be fed by Mom and Dad. Piling the underbrush at the base of the tree makes their task easier.  (While they sometimes climb back to the nesting box, they most often climb up easier "leaner" trees/branches).

   Suggestion: If a nearby tree lacks branches at nest-box level, install some yourself.

   Reason: The owlets need to be somewhere in the general vicinity of the box to be fed.

   Outcome: I never saw any of the owlets on the branch I installed, but the adult owls used it regularly as a perch. Jerry the photographer and I got a few great nighttime photos of the owls that we otherwise never would have gotten.

    Bottom line: Great advice all around...

       Thanks, David!

   Outcome: I never saw any of the owlets use those branches to climb the tree, but there was no downside (and no cost) to moving the branches.

   Outcome: I also put wood chips under the box to soften the fall. I saw three of the four owlets jump. One sort of 'flew' and landed about 10 feet from the box. A second owlet managed to land in a nearby shrub. The third one dropped from the box like a rock. I was glad I had cleared all the rocks and sharp branches, and I was glad for the wood chips.

      Suggestion: Find a nearby tree with a branch the same height as the nesting box opening, then lean several small branches against the base of that tree.

   Suggestion:  Remove all rocks and other objects on the ground under the nesting box.

    But I am also indebted to David Johnson, head of the Global Owl Project, who met me by chance at a raptor sanctuary last December and took an interest in the screech-cam and the nesting box.

   I showed David photos of the habitat back then, and he made several suggestions -- all of which I took. In retrospect, almost every one of them was on the money. 

   For anyone considering setting up an owl box of their own, here are the suggestions and how they played out with the Ace family.

   Suggestion: Install aluminum flashing on the tree below the nesting box.