Burrow Security
Description
A tiny Burrowing Owl peaks out from it’s nesting den near the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge.
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This image is available for the following products: Metal Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints, Acrylic Wall Prints, Giclee Fine Art Prints
Location
Salton Sea, California
Background
I have always wanted to photograph burrowing owls. These tiny birds, roughly the size of an American Robin, may appear cute but are voracious hunters and fiercely guard their burrow sites. I’ve had desires for several years now to make a trip to either the Dakotas or Florida to photograph them, but those plans had never panned out. While on a recent trip to Arizona and Southern California to photograph some of the national parks in that region, I had read that there are decent populations of burrowing owls and hoped to maybe see some while in the desert. On our final evening in Joshua Tree photographing a sunset, I struck up a conversation with some fellow photographers. I tend to be chatty while around other photographers (a quality of which my wife enjoys making fun). While waiting for the shot I happened to meet a fellow birder who was from Canada. As luck would have it, she just came from Salton Sea area and saw many burrowing owls. We discussed this for several minutes as we photographed and waited for the sun to fade.
Later at the rental, a quick internet search revealed that Sonny Bono NWR at Salton Sea was only 2.5 hours away and was somewhat on the way to our next destination in Arizona. After much excitement and a brief discussion we decided to leave very early and try to get there to spend an hour or two with the owls. Just as described by our new friend, the owls where everywhere with burrows lining many of the fields and areas around the refuge. This image was one of the first captured before the really harsh light came up. It’s a nice eye level shot with the owl poking out of its burrow in the morning.
