April 18. 2025. Hendrie Valley. Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington, ON. Canada. I have many times mentioned or featured a certain Eastern Screech Owl in these pages, most recently just six months ago.
Always a screech owl, always regarding the world from the same hole in a tree, but not necessarily the same bird. It intrigues me to know there has been more than one individual. Eastern Screech Owls come in two colour choices, grey and rufous-red. Usually we see a grey individual but every now and then it’s a rufous one. I’m a bit baffled.
Well maybe two birds share this safe daytime roost, in there together, or maybe not; maybe they are a mated pair; or siblings, who switch around; and perhaps they have several snug retreats. It does puzzle me. The bird(s) and this place have become well known among walkers, birders and photographers and the hole they occupy is very close to, and quite high above, a well-trafficked trail, the occupant-of-the-day is best observed from some distance away.
Things changed today: instead of an owl, the hole had been claimed, or was being investigated, by a pair of Wood Ducks; they are cavity nesters and abundant in the valley. A female sat at the entrance peering out at the world while her mate was perched just a few feet above her. 
If they succeed in taking possession and rearing a brood it is conveniently close to a pond. Wood Ducklings usually leave the nest within a day of hatching. When conditions are right, the female flies from the nest cavity to the ground or water below and begins calling softly, the ducklings scramble to the entrance and leap to the female waiting below. They are small and so light they almost float down and have been known to jump 80 m to the ground without injury.
Observation of the owl(s) at this hole have always been made during the colder months of the year, September through to April, and I’ve often wondered if the hole is only a cold weather roost, perhaps unsuitable as a nest site, so maybe the owls have vacated it for the spring/summer season to go elsewhere to nest. Time may tell; will the Wood Ducks successfully appropriate the cavity, and if so, will the owl(s) let it go without a fight.
Very interesting, Peter!