I found a pair of Burrowing Owls on one of our properties!

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by F8L, Apr 30, 2008.

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  1. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) is currently on the petition list to be added to the California Endangered Species Act or threatened species list. Due to massive habitat loss their numbers have rapidly declined since the early 1900s and that decline increased since the 1970's.



    Yesterday I spent a few hours before dusk at one of our Preserves observing these little guys to determine that what we saw during our vegetation survey work were indeed Burrowing Owls. I sat in the pasture surrounded by curious little cows and more than a couple large ones, trying to take notes and then GPS coordinates of the nest site. It occured to me that this special sighting is yet another example of how grassland/rangeland management practices can aid in wildlife preservation, maintain a ranching heritage AND keep open spaces open (exclude all commerical development). The owls were utilizing a corral area with plenty of fencelines and posts for them to perch on and abundant ground squirrel holes for them to nest in. This same preserve has wonderful veral pool habitat and open grassy areas but it is only within 40' of this corral that the owls are nesting.

    I'm just excited to see more than one endangered species living on one of our working preserves because this is what we (Placer Land Trust) strive to attain and what so many environmental organizations (including the California Cattlemans Association) work so hard to achieve, a safe haven for flora and fauna that have been extirpated elsewhere. All this while maintaining a working landscape! :) I'm going to continue my observations over the summer and write up a small report of my findings then add this nest site (hopefully a breeding pair) to the California Natural Diversity Database.

    [​IMG]
     
    #1 F8L, Apr 30, 2008
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Very cool....have you seen "Hoot"?
    But....where are YOUR photos??
     
    #2 efusco, Apr 30, 2008
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    yeah, where are the pictures? :)
     
    #3 galaxee, Apr 30, 2008
  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I have not seen it. I read it is a comedy about ecoterrorism though. EEK! lol

    I tried to get pics last night but the durn baby calves wouldn't leave me alone so they kept spooking the birds away from the burrow and I'm not good enough to catch them in flight. I'm going to work on keeping my distance and observing them with binoculars until they are a bit more approachable then I can use my camera and get my own pics. :)

    Cows were doing the same thing during our Veg survey as well.
    [​IMG]

    I have pics of what I was sitting in though. lol

    Hawkbit (Leontodon taraxacoides)
    [​IMG]

    Horned Downingia (Downingia bicornuta)
    [​IMG]

    Not sure what he is but I'll find out in class tomorrow
    [​IMG]
     
    #4 F8L, Apr 30, 2008
  5. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    You'll notice that we posted simultaneously!
    Nice photos... waiting for more :)


    :photo:
     
    #5 Rae Vynn, Apr 30, 2008
  6. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    It finally occured to me that one of the solutions to economic forces turning great chunks of farmland into private estates is contained in the description above. If anyone has read Collapse (by Jared Diamond), the depressing chapters of Montana farms being bought up for non-farming development may have a solution......
     
    #6 FL_Prius_Driver, Apr 30, 2008
  7. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    My thoughts exactly. When I see posts about cool nature things from F8L, I consider it false advertising if there aren't beautiful pictures to go along with it.

    I suppose I won't petition Evan to suspend your account since you posted those great pictures of other nature :)
     
    #7 Betelgeuse, Apr 30, 2008
  8. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    Dupe; sorry.
     
    #8 Betelgeuse, Apr 30, 2008
  9. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I love the book and I agree that there are other ways to help people make money and stay employed without degrading habitat. :)


    Betelgeuse, I'm sorry. I knew I should have came armed with pics but the buggers are so fast in flight and I am pretty sure I won't be able to get pics any time soon yet I was excited to find them and post. Haha I'll do better next time and thank you for the compliments! :D
     
    #9 F8L, May 1, 2008
  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I wrote an article for our Land Trust Newletter and got a couple pics (bad ones) of our owl friends. I thought I'd share them with you. :)

    Pic#1 Meet Bob. Bob is a resident burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) on Swainsons Grassland Preserve. lol

    Pic#2 Is the seasonal wetland next door to his home (also part of the 469 acre preserve).


    If you are interested you can read the informational article I wrote. I'm not a journalist so bear with me. :) *I've edited out names due to internet privacy issues*

     

    Attached Files:

    #10 F8L, Jun 26, 2008
  11. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    Bob is very attractive. Does Mrs. Bob have a given name? Might I suggest....Athena?
     
    #11 Godiva, Jun 26, 2008
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I will be sure to tell him next week when I go out for more monitoring. :) His loving wife was not photographed due to botched shots of wings covering her face and a bunch of screeching. I believe I may have caught her before she had time to preen. :confused:

    She is every bit as lovely as Bob and Athena would suit her well. If I get any decent shots that she approves of, I will post them up in this thread with her very appropriate name displayed in the caption. Thanks Godiva. :) LOL
     
    #12 F8L, Jun 26, 2008
  13. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    There was a burrowing owl (we usta call the genus Speotyto) on my bike route in Las Cruces NM whose 'must defend' territory included a road. When I rode there he (probably not she) would rake my bike helmet with talons. It would be even more startling for someone riding bare headed.
     
    #13 tochatihu, Jun 26, 2008
  14. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    Great pictures. My 6-year old daughter did a doubletake when she walked by and we had a discussion about burrowing owls. I was quite amazed when she told me they burrowed like rabbits. I wasn't amazed at the owls -- i was amazed that my daughter knew such information at 6.

    I didn't learn about burrowing owls until I was 16 in South Florida. My younger sister was taking riding lessons and a nest was nearby. They were very much like Prairydogs hanging out by the nest entrance. Very strange to see but they were wonderful.
     
    #14 Jack66, Jun 26, 2008
  15. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    :eek: Ohh snap! That's crazy lol

    *must remember to wear a better hat when going out to monitor Bob and Athena*

    Jack66, Don't you just love it when they suprise you like that? :) Thank you for the kind comments. I'll work on obtaining better pics or I'll have my buddy shoot them with his super neato camera. lol

    On a side note, you could tell her that the lastest studies provide evidence that the owls bring dried cow dung to the nest entrance in an effort to attract insects, their main prey. Smart lil buggers. :)
     
    #15 F8L, Jun 26, 2008
  16. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    She'll love that! Even I think that is cool. I'll go see if she's still awake...
     
    #16 Jack66, Jun 26, 2008
  17. samiam

    samiam Antipodean Prius Poster

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    I used to walk past a lot of burrowing owls on the south side of Albuquerque. They were always in the midst of prarie dog cities. I never got strafed by one, but the density of owls was quite high, so perhaps the territories were smallish...
     
    #17 samiam, Jun 26, 2008
  18. Abq Richard

    Abq Richard New Member

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    When I was in law school at the University of New Mexico, I used to take walks and bird around a 9 hole golf course adjacent to the law school. The golf course had at one time been an 18 hole course, and the abandoned 9 holes, dubbed the "barren fairways," was reverting to a somewhat natural state. A pair of burrowing owls nested there for years. There was a snag that at least one of the owls liked to perch on. Joggers would run around the perimter of the golf course and the barren fairways. The snag was located right on the side of the permiter trail used by the joggers, and it always amazed me to see an owl on this snag, unfazed by the joggers passing within feet of it, and to see the joggers going by completely oblivious to this beautiful bird a few feet above them. Then, one year, the University grounds crew removed the snag for heaven knows what reason. Birders erected another perch for the owls, but, if I recall correctly, one of the pair had disappeared that year, and the other soon followed.

    Here in Albuquerque, burrowing owls can be found in at least a few places nearby, but they are not abundant, at least in my observation. One of my neighbors told me that she walks her dog in a park a few miles away from where I live and adjacent to Kirtland Air Force Base, where there is plenty of open ground, and that there is a family of burrowing owls there. I haven't got around to checking yet, but I will.

    Edit: Fortunately for me, my owl was not as aggressive as tochatihu's owl! Unfortunately for me, I haven't seen as many owls in Abq as Sam!
     
    #18 Abq Richard, Jun 26, 2008
  19. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    Bob is very cute! Athena's a lucky owl-ess... :)

    F8L, I appreciate, very much, your photos of the natural world :)
     
    #19 Rae Vynn, Jun 26, 2008
  20. samiam

    samiam Antipodean Prius Poster

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    I've been away from Abq for many many years (people tell me I wouldn't recognise it), so perhaps the owls have gone the way of the big-horn sheep on the crest. We used to see road runners in our front yard in the downtown neighborhood just east of old town. I suppose they're gone too. When my dad was a boy the prarie dog cities between Moriarity and Tijeras stretched for miles and were a real hazard for travelers to the big smoke of Abq. *sigh*
     
    #20 samiam, Jun 28, 2008
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