Screech Owl Nesting Box: The Good News
January 27, 2010
If you happened to see a guy in a red
jacket by my Screech Owl nesting box earlier this month, you'll be
relieved to know that the guy was not a wacko but rather a trained nesting-box camera installer, better known as (the legendary) Mike From Philly.
Mike installed the first mini microphone and mini infrared video cam for the neighborhood Screechers more than three years ago, and the elements finally got to them.
When the cam and mike crapped out early last fall, I asked the MFP to do a new installation (left). Everything works great.
And yes, we removed the lens cap.
Click "Continue reading..." for more owl cam info.
I got the cam and microphone from an Internet security company, and since we already had wiring from the owl box to my basement, all the job entailed was to replace the equipment and get it running.
The whole job took about four hours over two days.
The first step was to make sure there would be no owl inside the box, so the night before the new camera was installed -- well after dark -- I plugged up the entrance to the box.
The next morning, we were able to make all the repairs without displacing the screech owl, who took up residence nearby.
Once we made sure that the connecting wires were still providing juice, we took the owl box from the tree, brought it inside, and installed the new cam and microphone. Suddenly, I could "see" into the box again.
A few days later, trouble arrived.