These small owls stand about 9" tall and nest in underground burrows they excavate themselves in sandy soil grassland areas. They are a sub-species of the lighter colored Burrowing Owls of the Midwest and West where they typically inhabit unused Prairie Dog burrows.
They have such large beautiful eyes. These photos were mostly taken at 600mm, but close enough that we could fill the frame without their scurrying into their burrow. Please try the downloads to appreciate them.
TrishV
Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA
Hereford wrote:
These small owls stand about 9" tall and nest in underground burrows they excavate themselves in sandy soil grassland areas. They are a sub-species of the lighter colored Burrowing Owls of the Midwest and West where they typically inhabit unused Prairie Dog burrows.
They have such large beautiful eyes. These photos were mostly taken at 600mm, but close enough that we could fill the frame without their scurrying into their burrow. Please try the downloads to appreciate them.
Great set. They are, as you say, most photogenic - it is too bad that they are disappearing from so many areas. Thanks for sharing.
Nice set of photos. They are so cute and you did well both in photographing them and captioning them. We have them around us as well and they are fun to see. Just sometimes hard to find them out of their burrows.
They were common in the Florida Keys until Hurricane Irma; since then I haven’t seen any.
One pair that I was aware of let us approach within five or six feet for photos. They had several broods of chicks over the years I knew them.
Wonderful set! Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful series of photos. They are such interesting creatures. Several years ago my wife and I vacationed at Sanibel and one afternoon found a burrowing owl perched as nice as you please on one of the posts of the railing on the porch of where we were staying. That was the first one I ever saw and it was a delightful "Welcome home."
Very Nice work ! They are still on my bucket list ........thanks for sharing
joecichjr
Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Hereford wrote:
These small owls stand about 9" tall and nest in underground burrows they excavate themselves in sandy soil grassland areas. They are a sub-species of the lighter colored Burrowing Owls of the Midwest and West where they typically inhabit unused Prairie Dog burrows.
They have such large beautiful eyes. These photos were mostly taken at 600mm, but close enough that we could fill the frame without their scurrying into their burrow. Please try the downloads to appreciate them.
Magnificent shots and spectacular owl eyes
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉
Impressive images Hereford!
Excellent photos, Hereford!
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