Build and mount a barn owl nest box on a hinged tip-down pole, Lake Somerville State Park, Birch Creek Unit, Somerville.

Lake Somerville State Park, Birch Creek Unit, Somerville's open grassland gives a barn owl pair real, continuous hunting ground once the rodent-control siting prerequisite is settled, but nothing here gives a pair anywhere to nest. unlike a purple martin colony's many small compartments for a group of birds, a barn owl nest box is one large box built for a single pair, sized with roughly 24 by 24 by 36 inch interior box, a 5.5 to 6 inch entrance oval, and an internal ledge or partition near the entrance and 2 to 3 inches of wood-shaving floor litter, since the species builds no nest of its own and relies on the litter to stop eggs rolling and to cushion growing legs from splaying. A hinged, tip-down pole keeps the entire structure ground work for every future visit.

Where

Lake Somerville State Park, Birch Creek Unit, near Somerville, Burleson County, TX 77879 (public park, best-estimate day-use grassland edge) · Open the map

Pay

$230 proposed

This packet is not funded yet, so this figure is a proposed price and not money waiting in escrow. If a buyer funds it, approved proof settles that price onchain. If nobody funds it, approved proof earns provable credit toward the work instead of cash. You see which before you claim, never after.

Proof

box-spec record plus siting-distance record plus before after mount photos plus hinge-confirm plus GPS

This is exactly what gets it approved. Nothing settles without it.

Level

intermediate

Open until

2026-10-13

Posted by

0x034F…6c89

The creator wallet. Its signature is what approves proof and settles the wage.

How this work is done

A documented method, so this packet comes out the same whoever does it.

Steps

1. 1. Build the box off-site to spec: roughly 24 by 24 by 36 inch interior box, a 5.5 to 6 inch entrance oval, and an internal ledge or partition near the entrance.
2. 2. Line the floor with 2 to 3 inches of wood-shaving floor litter, since the species builds no nest of its own and the litter keeps eggs from rolling and cushions growing legs.
3. 3. Attach the finished box to a hinged, tip-down pole built to lower to the ground for every future visit, and set the pole base securely at a site meeting the siting logic: open ground with rough grassland foraging within its hunting radius, at least 40 to 60 feet from trees or structures taller than the box.
4. 4. Raise the pole to a final housing height of about 12 to 16 feet, oriented to face the park's rough grassland day-use meadow rather than a road, lower it once to confirm the hinge tips smoothly down and locks back up, then leave it raised and photograph the finished box with the open foraging ground visible.

What counts as done

• Before photo of the chosen site with no box present
• Box interior dimensions, entrance-hole diameter, and floor litter depth recorded
• Confirmation that the hinged pole tips fully to the ground and locks back up and is never climbed
• Distance from the box to the nearest tree or structure taller than the box measured and recorded (40 feet minimum for the park and resident sites; open field edge confirmed for the school sites)
• After photo of the raised, mounted box facing the open foraging or hunting ground

Proof is measured against these, not judged by taste.