Angry Owls

The Florida Burrowing Owl

Every winter my wife and I try to make a trip to Florida for a week or so to get a break from the NJ weather and to visit with our parents who both live there for the winter. My parents live on the east coast of Florida in the town of Sebastian while my wife’s parents live on the opposite coast in Cape Coral. For the first few years of our visits I had no idea that the city of Cape Coral was somewhat famous among birders. When I found out why I could not wait to get a chance to see the incredible Florida Burrowing Owl.

After finding out that Cape Coral has a healthy population of these interesting tiny owls, I planned a trip to see and photograph them. While my father had made a trip during the previous year to see and photograph them, he was more than happy to tag along again. During a visit in February of 2012, my wife and my parents all jumped in the car and drove across the sate of Florida to stay for a few days with my In-laws in Cape Coral.

My father had an idea of where to find some of these owls from his prior visit so we started early one morning before the sun had come up. When we arrived at our first stop where he had seen some the year before, it was just starting to get light. Sure enough the owls had begun to come out of the burrows and check us out. I knew these were pretty small owls but it really surprised me just how small they were when I saw the first one. It had really huge eyes since it wasn’t too bright out yet. I could tell it was going to be a great morning.

First thing in the morning an adult Burrowing Owl scans the sky for danger.

A classic stare-down from a Burrowing Owl.

After spending a short while with this group of owls we left to look at another spot. Our next stop was directly next to the local CVS parking lot. I couldn’t believe these owls had set up a burrow in such a busy and populated location but it seemed to work. Thankfully the city of Cape Coral ropes off most of the nesting sites to prevent people from accidentally getting to close. Once you learn what to look for, such as the small wooden cross perches and yellow roped off area, you can kind of just drive around and find all the possible burrows. After a little while with the CVS owl it went into its burrow and we moved on.

One of the adults stands watch on the burrow mound.

Our last stop was a pair of owls that we stumbled upon while driving around. We decided to settle in and spend some time with this pair so that they might calm down and get used to our presence and hopefully we could photograph some natural behavior.

A Burrowing Owl pair just outside of the burrow.

Standing tall looking directly at me.

It is really cool to watch these little birds run around on those long legs which I’m sure are great for digging.

This owl became quite comfortable with our presence and calmly scans its surroundings.

After a while they did calm down a bit and as my father and I stayed in one spot they began to move around a bit more and have some interactions. I think it would have taken a bit more patience on our part before they really calmed down but we had plans to go looking for the Florida Scrub Jays on the same morning.

One of the adults flares the feathers on its face defending its territory.

Both of the pair are keeping an eye on me as I lay on the ground photographing them.

A rare moment when the pair seem to be looking right at each other

Keeping a good eye on the sky is always a must.

After a fun morning with the owls and hundreds of photos we packed up our gear and left the owls to themselves. It was such a great experience just getting to see these interesting and cute owls and I was more than thrilled with the photos I managed to get. Most importantly I got the classic photo of the “angry stare” that is somewhat of a trademark for the Florida Burrowing Owl.

One final angry stare from these amazing little owls.