My eighth burrow of owlets was also on Martin Road, just 50 yards or so north of the seventh burrow. From a distance I'd seen multiple owls scrambling across the ground, but as I got there it was mostly empty, except a parent owl standing back away from the den area. I waited a few minutes and eventually a solitary owl appeared at a hole and stared at me. I wasn't sure, initially, if it was a parent owl or an owlet as I couldn't see the breast. However, as I got home and carefully examined the owl head in the hole and compared it to other owlets and adult owls, I determined the owl in the hole was an owlet. The heads of the adult owls are light brown and streaked with white. The owl in the hole had a darker head and lacked the white streaking.
 |
| This lightened view of the hole shows the top of the owlet's head as it goes back down the hole. |
The owl did not look long and disappeared back down the hole. As I watched both parent owls made appearances, one with a cricket or grasshopper and it eventually disappeared in a neighboring hole with it. The burrowing owls live in networks of tunnels and holes that have been excavated by ground squirrels, so there are often multiple accesses to the burrowing complex.
 |
| Parent one with a bite to eat. |
 |
| Parent two, also carrying something to eat. |
The all look like very old souls, even the owlets.
ReplyDelete