Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 55

I
WITH A CAMERA TO
CATCH EVERY MOVE!
If you live in a neighborhood
and have a longing to
photograph owls, one solution
is to build a split-log house as a
lure and hope for the best.
Text and photos by RYAN RICE
do a lot of wildlife photography,
but outside of the birds that come
to my feeders, I normally have to
go out into the woods, lakes, rivers
and mountains to capture my photos.
Living in a neighborhood with
houses on all four sides, I don't see a
lot of wildlife.
One type of animal that has always
eluded my photography excursions is
owls. So after a few neighbors told me they
had seen owls around, I decided to try to
attract one by building an owl house.
I didn't have high expectations that I
would be successful. However, I decided
there was no harm in trying and I like to
build things, so why not?
I researched various owl-house designs,
but most are just simple boxes built out
of plywood. With photography in mind, I
wanted something as natural-looking as I
could create, so I decided to go in search of
a fallen hollow tree I could use.
I found one that was about 18 inches
in diameter. I cut a section out of it. It split
while I was doing that, so I used hinges
to put it back together. That way I could
open it and clean it out if needed. I put a
roof and floor on it and cut an opening.
And being the nerdy/techy guy I am, I
put two video cameras aimed at the owl
house-one in the top looking straight
down and one on the outside watching
the opening.
These cameras would record 24/7 and
require wifi (no internal storage), so I had
to find a way to extend the wifi signal 100
feet from my house to make the cameras
functional and allow me to watch live and
also review the footage from any point
over the previous several weeks.
The cameras even tag motion events,
making it easier for me to review for potential
visitors to my structure.
I hung the house in a tree on my property
line and hoped for the best. About six
weeks later I finally noticed some activity.
Sure enough there was a small eastern
screech owl in the house.
To say I was excited is putting it mildly.
I got to observe and photograph this owl
over the next couple months, even going
as far as to put my camera on a tripod and
taking photos using a remote trigger while
I was inside my house.
It was an exciting time for a wildlife
lover. The owl spent almost the entirety of
its days sitting in the opening soaking up
the sun and sleeping. Then late at night
it would go out for its adventures and return
early in the morning. Sometimes it
would return in between to eat a meal it
had scored.
Some of my neighbors enjoyed my
posts about the owl and started asking
about it, but alas, the " All good things
come to an end " axiom kicked in: After
those first few months, the owl's visits
became less and less frequent. Eventually,
they stopped altogether. I had hoped I
would get to watch the owl raise a family
in the owl house, but was happy with
what I got to observe.
MARCH/APRIL 2023 55
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023

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