Burrowing Owl

Bill Pruitt

I have always wanted to see these guys in person. With a few hours to spare I drove down to Cape Coral to find some. I was not disappointed.







Bill
BillPruittPhotography.com

Bill Pruitt

BTW, this is full frame on my D300. About 15 ft away, I had my 300 f4.

dbaker1221

red x is all I see

Maestro

Nice little pose. Are these being tracked for some reason, endangered? I see those bands on its legs.

Robinivich

I don't know where Cape Coral is, but if this is the same burrowing owl as we have locally (BC, Canada) then yes, they are endangered.

Wonderful shot, absolutely textbook pose (and that's no bad thing!), well executed!!

Bill Pruitt

dbaker1221 wrote:

red x is all I see

Sorry, I fixed it. I had to turn linking on.

Bill

Bill Pruitt

Robinivich wrote:

I don't know where Cape Coral is, but if this is the same burrowing owl as we have locally (BC, Canada) then yes, they are endangered.

Wonderful shot, absolutely textbook pose (and that's no bad thing!), well executed!!

Same bird, but probably a subspecies.
This is from wikipedia - "The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[8], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. "

These birds in Cape Coral, in Florida, have their burrows on empty housing lots. When someone builds a house, the nest goes.

dbaker1221

great capture Bill... .I love the way they look

summerz

That is great, love how he is looking at you.

Maestro

Bill Pruitt wrote:

Same bird, but probably a subspecies.
This is from wikipedia - "The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[8], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. "

These birds in Cape Coral, in Florida, have their burrows on empty housing lots. When someone builds a house, the nest goes.

Thanks for the info.

SunGlo

Bill Pruitt wrote:

Same bird, but probably a subspecies.
This is from wikipedia - "The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[8], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. "

These birds in Cape Coral, in Florida, have their burrows on empty housing lots. When someone builds a house, the nest goes.

Bill,

Cape Coral property owners must obtain a permit to move the nests. They cannot destroy the nests which are protected by the City.

Cape Coral is known for its burrowing owl population and most nests are clearly marked to protect them from being destroyed by the heavy mowers used to limit vegetation growth.

The best area to observe the owls is in the sparsely populated northwest section of Cape Coral. If you're lucky you may also see fox squirrels, bald eagles, wood storks, scrub jays, and gopher tortoises. Also, there are some manatee in the spreader canal. All are protected species.

Have fun,

Phil

Harryb

Excellent capture Bill. Its way to good to posted at a small size. We like our images BIG around here.