St. Xavier Owl Box Cam

A Box Built for Owls, Claimed by a Squirrel

Installed at the Westmoreland Land Trust's St. Xavier Nature Preserve in October 2023, this nest box was purpose-built for roosting and nesting Eastern Screech-Owls. An Eastern Red Squirrel moved in almost immediately, gnawing a second opening near the floor that now shows up as the bright gap in the corner of the frame.

Inside the Cavity

Mounted roughly twenty feet up a tree trunk, the infrared camera looks straight down into a bed of shredded bark and nesting material. It is one of several boxes scattered across the preserve's grassy edge, each wired for a close, undisturbed view of the animals that use it.

A College and Land Trust Partnership

The feed is run by the Ornithology Program at Saint Vincent College, whose Biological Sciences students use the footage for senior research projects. Camera and infrastructure were donated by PixCams, Inc., in an ongoing collaboration that lets faculty, students, and the public follow the preserve's wildlife.

Protecting the St. Xavier Preserve

The Westmoreland Land Trust stewards this 248-acre property just south of the Saint Vincent College campus for its ecological, cultural, and recreational value. Restoring native grasses and woodland edges around the nest boxes supports cavity-nesting wildlife well beyond the camera's frame.