Western Burrowing Owl

On May 28, 2023 I visited the Salton Sea. I was generally looking for anything new, but also decided I would drive the best part of my prior burrowing owl route to see what I could see. 

In preparation for this post, I looked at some of my former posts. I saw my first burrowing owl on April 9, 2021 and saw 12 total that day. This was during the second year of Covid and the Salton Sea was my favored venue that year. I visited each of the next four weeks after that and saw 19 burrowing owls on April 17, 49 burrowing owls on April 24, 45 burrowing owls on May 1 and 55 burrowing owls on May 8. I started getting tired of taking so many photos of burrowing owls and started primarily looking for owlets, baby burrowing owls. I saw my first owlets on May 20. 

In 2022 I only visited the Salton Sea a few times and branched out to other venues. This year I visited the Salton Sea on January 1, 2023 and as indicated above, visited again on May 28, 2023. On this trip I decided to drive my old burrowing owl route, many of the roads are mostly only good for burrowing owls. I photographed 60 burrowing owls, I believe a record for me, including 51 adults and 9 owlets (from three burrows). I probably saw another 5 to 10 owls but was not able to get photos of them. The rest of this post is an ad nauseum review of my burrowing owl sightings:

Owl no. 1 on Vendel Road, the road to Unit 1 of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR and the southern end of the Salton Sea. This road used by be one of the best for burrowing owls but NWR tractors have disrupted the side of the road and it is not as good now. I did not go down the side Trifoleum 14 Drain Road where there is a burrow and probably missed some birds that would have been there. 

Owl no. 2 on Vendel Road.

Owl no. 3 on Vendel Road. 

Vendel Road is a north/south street which I enter from Bannister Road which has an entrance from Hwy 78 on the west side of the Salton Sea. After going north on Vendel Road as far as I can go (about 3 miles), I return to Bannister (3 miles), then turn left and go on Bannister until I get to Baker Road, roughly 2 miles. Along the way there is a burrow I saw two years ago around an old, dry, irrigation control valve. There are owlets there again this year. They quickly duck down and I decide to wait them out. Parent, owl no. 4,  returns while owlets are down. 

The second parent (owl no. 5) returns and lands on a control valve above, before dropping into the hole. 

One of the parents stands inside the edge of the hole carrying a cricket in its beak, food for the owlets. 

Parent with the cricket gets mobbed by three owlets (owl nos. 6, 7 and 8) while another owlet stares at me, further to the right (owl no. 9).  

I finally get my best looks at the 4 owlets and one parent. There could possibly be other owlets that have not shown themselves. 

I turned left on Baker Road and went north. The north/south streets are about three miles long before the next cross street (which is Walker). I see one burrowing owl (owl no. 10) and it almost appears to be standing in snow while it is snowing. I think the white dots are bugs flying around it. 

I turned right (east) on to Walker Road and saw one owl (owl no. 11) standing on an irrigation control station. 

From Walker, I turn right (south) on to Bruchard. I encounter two owlets (owls no. 12 and 13) at a hole and wait for something to happen. 

Parent (owl no. 14) joins them with some food. 

Sibling owlet (owl no. 15) pokes its head up, just barely, at the right side. 

The second parent (owl no. 16) arrives with a cricket in its mouth which gets the owlets' attention. 

The most brave owlet (far left) emerges from the hole. 

The owlet walks away from the hole. 

I drive further down Bruchard. I see another adult owl (owl no. 17). 

I see another adult (owl no. 18) near a hole with owlets. 

Two owlets (owls no. 19 and 20) poke up out of a hole which is in a seam below the concrete lining of an irrigation ditch. 

An adult (owl no. 21) is further down Bruchard. 

At the bottom of Bruchard, where it connects with Bannister, I see an owl (owl no. 22) that flies onto the pavement in the intersection. This may be the only time I've seen a burrowing owl standing on a paved road. Fortunately, there is not much traffic. 

The owl then flies up to the top of a "Not a Through Road" sign. 

Meanwhile, another owl (owl no. 23) is in a hole near the intersection. I suspect there are owlets, but don't have the time or inclination to wait for them to come out. It is one thing when you have seen the owlets and wait, and another to wait when you are not sure. 

After about 1.5 miles going east on Bannister, I turn left (north) onto Pellett. I saw lots of owlets on Pellett two years ago. However, none this year. This is the first (owl no. 24) of six adult owls I'll see on Pellett. 

Owl no. 25.

Owl no. 26.

Owl no. 27. 

Owl no. 28. 

Owl no. 29.

I reached Walker and turned right (east). Owl no. 30 was on top of a telephone pole. 

Owl no. 31, likely with a brood I could not see, is on a berm on the side of the road. 

I reached the next intersection (all of the roads to this point are dirt other than Bannister) and turn right (south) onto Hoskins. I normally crop my owl photos quite a bit, but for this trip I'm trying to show much more scenery than usual, showing the owl habitat. Burrowing owls love to stand on perches that give them some height. Owl no. 32, above, stands on an irrigation control, something they do a lot. 

Owl no. 33 stands on a little dirt knob. It is not higher by much, but they take that extra bit of height. 

Owl no. 34 also stands on a dirt knob. 

Owl no. 35 stands on the bank of an irrigation canal. 

Owl no. 36.

Owl no. 37. 

Owl no. 38 stands on another irrigation control knob. 

I got to Bannister, turned left and went east to the intersection with McNerney, seeing no owls. I turned left (north) onto McNerney and saw owl no. 39. 

Owl no. 40 stands on the embankment of an irrigation canal. I believe the hole below is its burrow, likely with owlets, but no time to wait to find out. 

Owl no. 41 stands on a concrete liner for a well?, facing away from me. It flies and I get another photo of it below. 

Owl no. 42 stands on an irrigation control stick. 

I got to Walker and turned right (east). Owl no. 43 stands on a dirt bank next to the road, then flies....

...to the top of an irrigation control stick. 

Owl no. 44 stares down from a telephone pole. That's about as high as I see them get. I'm not sure I recall seeing any burrowing owls standing on branches of large trees. 

Owl no. 45 on a bank in front of a large field. 

At the intersection with Lack Road, which is paved, I turned right (south) and owl no. 46 is standing on top of an outhouse. This is an agricultural area and outhouses are there for the workers, often plowing, planting or picking. 

Owl no. 47 stands on an irrigation control valve. It has much more white on its face than normal. 

At Bannister, I turned left (east) on to paved Bannister, then turn left again (north) on to paved Forrester Road. Forrester has much more traffic on it than other roads in the area, including Bannister. However, it has a good dirt shoulder and usually has lots of owls. Owl no. 48 is above. 

Owl no. 49. 

Owl no. 50. 

Owl no. 51 stands on a broken concrete slab that housed a family of owlets two years ago. But I see none and do not have the time or patience to wait. 

Owl no. 52. 

Owl no. 53. 

Owl no. 54. 

Forrester does a curvy right turn at Walker, going east, then does a curvy left turn going north onto Gentry which goes straight north for many miles. Gentry usually does not provide many owl sightings, but usually more than this day. Owl no. 55 stands on a large pile of hay. 

When Gentry reaches Young Road, I turn left (west) to go toward the eastern edge of the Salton Sea. There is a small man-made lake on the northwest side of the intersection. This is heavy agricultural land that often has a crop I recognize. The typical trip reverts from owl sighting to looking for other kinds of birds here. But I do see owl no. 56. 

Owl no. 57. 

When I reached Lack Rd. (I was on it earlier quite a bit south - road construction used to block its use up to this far north - but no longer) I turned right (north). I drove by a couple of plants that convert steam into electricity (Cal Energy 5 and 4)  and get my first good sight of the Salton Sea (to my left - west) since driving down Hwy 78. Not many birds. I drive to the north of one of the generators, then east and back south, to get around it, then left to go east back to Gentry Road. Then left on Gentry to Sinclair Road to the entrance to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR Visitor Center. I stopped for a walk and ultimately got back to the car and headed east on Sinclair toward Hwy 111. It is usually a good road for Burrowing Owls. I see owl no. 58 on an irrigation control valve and crop that photo for a better look - below. 

Owl no. 59.

Owl no. 60 as I approached Hwy 111. This is usually the endpoint for the burrowing owls, except perhaps for some along the roads around mitigation ponds. 

I photographed 60 burrowing owls and could have had more had that been my total focus.