...we're hunting owlsThe last time we saw a burrowing owl was in South America - Puerto Madryn. Our avid-cycling friends, Rebecca and Mark, said they'd seen a large 'colony' a few miles Northeast of Davis. So this morning, we rode up to the Northeast corner of County Road 28H and County Road 102 (of course). As we approached, we could see this bird-poop-covered sign and hiding behind it, an owl.
We only saw two, and they seemed a little stressed by our presence.
Here is one of their burrows, note bird poop:
And another picture:
Andrew above the owls' burrows.
According to Wikipedia, the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other dry, open area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those abandoned by prairie dogs. [Here, they seem to be living in abandoned ground squirrel burrows.] Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day. However, most hunting is done at dusk or at night. Burrowing owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity. They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes, feral and domestic cats and dogs. According to a website, Burrowing Owls migrate to Texas and northern Mexico in the winter. This may be why we only spotted two while Rebecca and Mark have seen many more in the same location in the past.
Because of the expanse of agricultural fields, there are countless raptors in/around Davis. Andrew and I are pathetic at identifying them, but, we are making an effort to learn how to identify them. Here is a white-tailed kite that we saw on the ride home:
We also saw one more raptor that we were able to identify (once we returned home and consulted the Sibley Guide to Western North America) - the Northern Harrier - note its white rump. Clearly, this is NOT my photo, but this is what they look like:
5 comments:
The owls are just little guys and you are big and scary. No wonder they were stressed!
oh my goodness-- that is soooo cool!
Every time Eric and I saw a raptor in Italy we were like, "Look! It's a hawk...or...er...something..." We love looking at them too, but are only familiar, in a general way, with the ones in the northeastern part of the US.
And here I've been thinking it was a Road Sign Owl we saw in Puerto Madryn.
Hmm. They're not the most dignified looking owls, are they? I mean, the one in the labeled picture does not convey a great sense of majesty. Although I suppose if I lived in an abandoned squirrel burrow surrounded by my own poop, I'd have limited majesty too.
Geez, I have no idea why I'm being so hard on these owls.
wow rachel, so cruel!
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