Checking the owl boxes on the farm over the weekend, I discovered four nestling Western Screech-owls in a box in an elm. Six weeks ago I checked the box and evicted a nest of 6 Starling eggs. In their place grew the four small owls. Good trade as far as I'm concerned.

This box is about 30 yards from another box that had four young screech-owls last year at this date. Unfortunately, last year the young owls didn't stick around in the yard as they might normally would. We think this is because there was a magpie nest about 15 feet away, and the young owls and magpies fledged about the same time. There must have been a big to-do, as one of the baby magpies was killed and the adult owls took their young elsewhere.