Burrowing Owls: Grasslands, Pasture and Imprinted

Potter, the Burrowing Owl,
poses in Moose Jaw. © SB

The easiest way to get a photo of a Burrowing Owl in Saskatchewan is to visit the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre in Moose Jaw.

But, depending on background and timing, the resulting image (as shown at left) may not seem realistic...

For example, I adore Potter — last year's newborn and newly imprinted Burrowing Owl — but the photograph of him standing on a sheet-covered chair, with a bird poster behind, does not look at all like a Burrowing Owl in the wild!

Ditto, my shot of Potter, the Burrowing Owl in a floral arrangement, or this same little Burrowing Owl drifting off to sleep. Or my photograph of Potter sitting in someone's glowing red hair and head-swivelling in flowers. 

But pictures in natural settings are so much more challenging. Burrowing Owls are only about eight or ten inches tall, so they can easily hide in grasses or simply be too far away for a camera to capture. 

They are also most visible when nesting, but that is a critical time when they should not be disturbed. 

Back to photography... As examples of shooting a tame, imprinted Burrowing Owl, zoom in on the details of Potter, above.

And then try the same, with these totally wild Burrowing Owls in their natural prairie settings, first at Grasslands National Park and then on a privately-owned pasture southeast of Regina.

Burrowing Owl beside burrow in Prairie Dog Colony,
Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan  © SB

Family of Burrowing Owls in Saskatchewan pasture,
southeast of Regina. (Two on dock stalk,
one to the left, half-hidden in the grass.)   © SB  

I spent close to an hour chatting with the owner of the pasture, who'd offered to point out the burrow location after I told him I'd seen the owls on nearby fence posts and these stalks of dock. (And yes, he has officially reported this nesting site and is now receiving support — aka, frozen white mice — to feed the Burrowing Owls... I stayed far out by the road for the pictures, but he drives right up to the burrow near the dock to drop off their extra food. They're never visible when he wheels by, but he says the food he leaves for them quickly disappears.)

The owls in  GNP also receive similar dead/frozen/rodent sustenance to help broods of this endangered species survive. (I was surprised by how few nests there were in the park... Perhaps 12? This truly is a precious threatened bird.)


What are these birds? Burrowing Owls

Locations: #1, Potter: Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; #2, owl in the grass: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (at second Black-tailed Prairie Dog Colony); #3, three owls with stalks of dock: Pasture, southeast of Regina, Saskatchewan. 

Photo dates: #1, September 4, 2011; #2, June 23, 2012; #3, July 23, 2012. 

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Rough-Legged Hawk on Railway Crossing Signs

We saw several hawks on Saturday when we drove home from Moose Jaw to Regina along Highway 39. Only one — this Rough-Legged Hawk — was cooperative enough to sit on railway crossing signs and wait for the photo sessions to begin.

Rough-Legged Hawks breed in the Arctic and winter from southern Canada south, through grasslands and open cultivated areas. All About Birds highlights their dark wrists and broad dark bellies as identification marks.

The Cornell-sponsored ABB site also says that the Rough-Legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk and Golden Eagle are the only hawks in North America to be feathered all the way down their legs to their talons. (Extra warmth for their cold climates.) If you look closely, you can see the leg feathers in several of these images, all taken of the same (cooperative) hawk.

For more clues, I looked at How to Identify a Rough-Legged Hawk, from Hawk Ridge in Duluth, MN.

After we passed this Rough-Legged Hawk perched on a whistle crossing sign, we turned around, went back, stopped near it. and took several pictures before the hawk slowly lifted and flew away — to the classic red and white X of the next railway crossing sign.

It was a dull day and this Rough-Legged Hawk was backlit, so all of these images have been processed to bring out detail and colour.

Rough-Legged Hawk on whistle-crossing sign. © SB

The hawk appeals to the human need
(greed?) for eye contact. © SB

Top markings, in flight. © SB

Under markings, with dark wrists and belly. © SB

Rough-Legged Hawk in flight. © SB

Rough-Legged Hawk
on prairie crossing sign. © SB

Close-up of Rough-Legged Hawk
Here's looking at you... © SB

What is this? A Rough-Legged Hawk.    
Location: Along Highway 39, from Moose Jaw to south of Regina, Saskatchewan.  
Photo dates: March 17, 2012. 

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Canada Goose on Ice (Wakamow Park)

A Canada Goose exploring that magical time — out of winter, but not quite spring, when rivers are frozen or maybe melt  — or maybe that's all an illusion.

These geese seem like year-round residents here. Yes, many Canada Geese fly south, and their Vs in spring and fall skies are impressive, as is the noise they make when they honk overhead on their flight. But some remain resident, always here, feasting on park and farmland, even in winter.

What is this? A Canada Goose.    
Location: Along the Wakamow (Moose Jaw River), in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, 
Photo dates: March 17, 2012. 

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Potter, Burrowing Owl: Rotating Head

What's front or back when your head rotates like this? 

There is something eerie about a creature like Potter, the Burrowing Owl, whose head can rotate 270 degrees, so that he stares at you like this, body aiming forward, face back.

For Potter's full bouquet, see below, Burrowing Owl Floral Arrangement. (Try doing it with your head facing backwards...)

What is this? A somewhat-tame burrowing owl — he's being imprinted to help educate people about the issues his at-risk species faces. 
Location: Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Photo Date: September 4, 2011. 

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Burrowing Owls in the Office

Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, Moose Jaw, Saskaskatchewan: When you are raising an imprinted Burrowing Owl in your office, where do you let it sit?

Anywhere it wants! You want the bird to accept people and not be afraid, don't you? So it's all good. The owl can land safely on the desk, the chair, the flowers, your hair...

Wait a minute! An owl... on your head... ??? Well, on Lorri's head at least. She works with the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, and her hair was Potter's chosen perch for a while this afternoon. (After he got out of the Burrowing Owl floral arrangement, he flew right up.)

It's not unusual for Potter to land on someone's head... The BOIC's Facebook page talks about Potter landing on a little boy's head this weekend. Tears at first ensued, but then they became friends.

Potter, the Burrowing Owl, on Lorri's head, © SB

What is this? A somewhat-tame burrowing owl — he's being imprinted to help educate people about the issues his at-risk species faces. 
Location: Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Photo Date: September 4, 2011. 

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