The owl in the wood duck box

Five years ago I put up a wood duck box at the edge of a pond. Wood ducks began frequenting the box and, although I occasionally would see a wood duck fly in or out the hole, I never did see a brood of ducklings at the pond.

A week or so before Christmas I opened the side door on the box to see what might be inside. I was surprised to find three wood duck eggs. They had laid in the box unhatched all summer and fall. I carefully picked up an egg. It was hollow and light as a feather.

On Jan. 3, I asked my son-in-law to open the door to see what was inside. He took this photo a few seconds before the red morph screech owl flew out. The red morph eastern screech owl is common to the southern Illinois, western Tennessee and southeastern Missouri woodland landscape.