March, 2015 ~ No, these little burrowing owls aren’t from Jacksonville, but it should be obvious from the grass, that I’m not not out in the wilds, stalking elusive beasties. These were in a park – a very suburban, landfill-turned-city-park – in South Florida. A couple of weeks ago, when our friends Ken and Tammy were visiting, they told us about the burrowing owls they had photographed last year in Davie, Florida. Since we were already scheduled to be in that area for a short business meeting, Tammy offered to escort us to the park to see them. As soon as Ken fired up his laptop and showed his photos from last year, we were sold.
I am used to the wild birds around our house, that flee as soon as I pause to point my little “snappy” camera at them so that’s what I expected with these diminutive owls. But they excavate burrows in open areas, lay eggs and guard their chicks, all in plain view of joggers, exercise boot camps and camera-toting voyeurs. Ropes mark the nests to keep everyone from getting too close. Oh my gosh, these guys are cute, cute, cute! And I just found a Burrowing Owl Live Cam! Now, I won’t get anything done around here.
A shot, uncropped, of another owl at the park, showing how they are marked off with line.
