Never mind! I copied and pasted FAQ's in case someone else thinks the same thing I did----it's infrared light and doesn't bother her. Guess I can go to sleep now. Listen, I know I fly off the handle--nothing new----it's just that I CARE---with all my heart, I CARE. Ask Little White-Foot Mouse who lives in the woodpile on the deck, just outside the window. Right now she's getting up dropped seed from the feeder---she knows I see her, but she goes on with her work. I respect her work ethic. ************************* What kind of cameras and lighting are used? The cameras are Logitech Orbit AF (daytime) and Agama V-1325 R (infrared, nighttime). There are 4 infrared (IR) LEDs on the camera that are invisible to owls and humans, but allow the camera to pick up an image we can see at night. There is also ambient light from the neighborhood that comes into the box at night. Is this camera hardwired, battery operated, or solar powered? ItÂs hardwired. Can the night cam zoom in? No, only the daytime camera has zoom and is height-adjustable. The infrared camera is positioned lower and gives a different view of the nest. Does the light at night annoy Molly? There is some ambient light from the neighborhood, but there are no extra lights used at night. Molly doesnÂt seem to mind. Are the cameras actually inside the box? No, they are attached to the exterior of the house with a protective cover.

I don't know how deep the nest actually is because I can't get up into that tree. From what I've been able to see, however, it appears that they are really exposed to the weather more than I ever expected them to like for nesting. There was once a very large limb that broke from this tree and eventually it developed into this large cavity. You can still see some of the limb at the top of the nest site. That area of the tree has really deteriorated over the last few years and I worry that it will soon be too open for the owls to continue to nest there. The tree is slowly dying and is losing limbs every year. Many sections of the tree have holes in it made by Pileated Woodpeckers. Squirrels and birds fly into one hole and out another hole in another section of the tree. Definitely hollow spaces in there. I've been contemplating making a nest box and mounting up that tree in that nest area for next year. I'm just not sure what to do. I've watched them nest there every year since 2003 and I would truly miss them. I want to offer a nest box but at the same time I don't want to spook them away from the site they have used for so long. Here is an image from 2003 when the young were leaving the nest and the tree is full of foliage.

Three years ago I built a screech owl nest box and put it in a maple about 15 feet above the ground. After a starling nest and two years of squirrels, a family of red morph screech owls have moved in. The tree is at the edge of a wooded area facing south toward a 20 acre area of open organic farm, some wooded area and open field. The fledglings can often be seen peaking out of the hole. I live in eastern Long Island NY.

I have an owl box that has been invaded by bees. The beekeeper I called said that owls will not use it again, even if I clean it as the smell will always be there.... Very discouraging because I have had owls in it for about 4 years......-:(