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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, 1.4 tc, one twig removed,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThe dark brown plumage\u00a0of this\u00a0bird is pretty typical of the Burrowing Owls I see.\u00a0 I like this shot\u00a0partly because of the somewhat unusual background.\u00a0 Typically when we see\u00a0blue in the background it’s caused by either sky or water and it extends up to the top of the frame.\u00a0 But here the narrow\u00a0band of blue near the bottom is brackish water standing on the mud flats of the Great Salt Lake.\u00a0 The\u00a0body of the lake would be out of frame at top.<\/p>\n
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![\"burrowing](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/burrowing-owl-0973-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 @ 300mm, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This image was taken the day after the previous one.\u00a0 The bird is one of the lightest colored Burrowing Owls I’ve seen.\u00a0 When it was perched next to its more “normal” colored burrow-mates the contrast was striking.<\/p>\n Look closely and you’ll notice another difference between the two owls I’ve featured here – this bird is loaded down with “jewelry”.\u00a0 In addition to the band on its right leg there’s a transmitter\/antennae sticking out of its upper back.\u00a0 There were at least three\u00a0owls occupying this burrow which is only about 10 feet from the main, paved\u00a0road on the island so it was essentially\u00a0impossible to avoid getting close to the burrow with your vehicle.<\/p>\n In the last few days this burrow has apparently been abandoned, most likely because of the unfortunate happenstance of the burrow being so close to the road.\u00a0 But I doubt if the process of banding and adding transmitters to these birds (some Burrowing Owls on the island were banded this spring) contributes to their sense of security.<\/p>\n Don’t get me wrong.\u00a0 I\u00a0support banding and tracking efforts by highly qualified individuals and groups\u00a0in support of threatened and endangered species as a “necessary evil”.\u00a0 At this point in time the alternative\u00a0would be highly detrimental to many vulnerable species.\u00a0 I just hope that very soon “they” come up with alternative tracking methods that are less stressful and traumatic to birds.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Occasionally I’m struck by the amount of color variation in Burrowing Owls.<\/p>\n