Agate Lake Burrowing Owl

 Photos Below

Last week I got to spend some quality time with a Burrowing Owl (a very rare visitor to Jackson County, Oregon). It was my second time to the location looking for the ongoing bird. Both times I encountered a dog walker with two dogs off leash. Everyone else that I know that has visited this location recently has seen the same dog walker. It seems she spends most of her day there letting her dogs harass my Burrowing Owl Friend.

Luckily they were leaving as I arrived this time. I spent about ten minutes walking around looking for the Owl without any luck. I’m sure he (she?) was watching me the whole time. It flushed from a tree ~5 feet from my head – close enough to startle me a little. I don’t like to flush birds. It means that I’ve disturbed them and they will be harder to photograph, but at least I’d found the bird!

CHECK OUT @TWOLOONSOFTWARE AND #BURROWINGOWLWEEK ON  INSTAGRAM FOR MORE

I set ground rules for myself: I was only going to follow this bird three times and I would let it rest for 5-10 minutes before I started heading in it’s direction again. This isn’t as conservative as some folks might be, but it’s a lot more conservative than most.

A funny thing happened, though: the Burrowing Owl seemed to be at least a little curious about me. Each time it flew I waited for ~3-4 minutes and it would fly back towards me. This made me feel a little more comfortable that I wasn’t distressing this bird. It felt like we were getting to know one another. It spent most of it’s time in trees (perhaps because of the dogs?). It fought with a DOWNY WOODPECKER a bit. It let me get a few good photos.

After my encounter I was motivated to learn more about Burrowing Owls in the area. I read many anecdotal reports that they used to be quite common. eBird supports these reports: The last 20 years on eBird shows fewer and fewer sightings with just one sighting from 2010 to 2017. I hope this little one finds a mate and becomes the start of their reemergence in the area. Good Luck lil guy (or lady).

A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT BURROWING OWLS:

• Burrowing Owls have unusually long legs for an owl. Their legs provide extra height for a better view from it’s ground-level perch.
• They are ~9 inches tall (I’m always surprised at how little they are)