January 11, 2009 - Burrowing Owl on St. George Island, FL
Read MoreSt. George Island has an unusual visitor this winter: a Burrowing Owl. They are usually found in the western half of the United States in summer. They migrate in fall and spend the winter in Mexico and the southwestern states. In addition, there are two isolated populations in Florida. Southern Florida has some colonies and there are also some Burrowing Owls at Elgin Air Force Base in the far western part of the Florida panhandle. St. George Island, located in the central part of the panhandle, is pretty far away from all of these locations.
My friend, Alan Knothe, took me to the area where the owl was being seen; a broad, sandy beach on the far western end of the island. As we walked along the beach, Alan spotted the bird under this boardwalk. It came out to watch us as we got closer. Burrowing Owls really do nest in holes in the ground and we were speculating that the depression under the boardwalk might seem like a good spot to this owl.
The spot where I initially started taking photos of the owl had the sunlight shining from the right. That tends to produce harsh shadows so I decided to move around to the other side of the boardwalk so the sun would be behind me. As I walked over there, the owl was almost out of sight. It did, however, keep a close eye on me as it peeked over the boardwalk.
Marge Lial
on January 11, 2009Earl, this is a very interesting group of photos. I enjoyed them.