Owls do not construct their own nests. So when an owl is found to be incubating on a nest of sticks, then that nest was originally constructed by another bird--raven, hawk, or magpie, perhaps--or by a pack rat. The early nesting by these owls often allows them to take over a previous year's Red-tailed Hawk nest (as in this case) before the hawks have returned from wherever they wintered. In my experience, if a pair of Red-tailed Hawks remains on their territory year-round, they generally are able to protect their favorite nest from use by a pair of Great-horned Owls.
At this point in the breeding attempt, I didn't dare approach the nest closely enough to photograph this particular female displaying the faithfulness of a postal employee ("Neither snow nor sleet..."). So instead I've shared below a photo of a different Great-horned Owl fom the same Oregon county and several years ago.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HrGQkm_qyT4a0tuQDCpvR1Vd7FLr83zG2gYNfS2SOHXdPa-KBF40IAB9JQQ9QVqdE704NpABwuPbDXzyijiTFY31pfXFtZsUkqe6t8ceBIvJRCsirMOgF8Ca5odVWSumnoLSu5A5ac0V/s320/great+horned+owl.jpg)
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