The Owlets Are Emerging
Right on schedule, the Burrowing Owlets in Cape Coral are emerging from their burrows.
Burrowing owl owlets start emerging from their burrows about two weeks after they hatch. At three weeks they start running, hopping, preening, and flapping their wings. They take short flights at 4 weeks old, fly well by 6 weeks, and at 44 - 53 days they fledge from the nest entirely. They grow up fast!
At the burrow photographed below there were two owlets standing inside the entrance to the nest. One stepped out briefly while dad kept watch. The owlet came out, looked around for about a minute, then went back into the burrow.
Burrowing Owl and owlet. I estimate this owlet is about 2 weeks old. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 900.
Out of the 18+ burrows I found with owls standing sentry, this is the only one I saw owlets outside the burrow. That will be changing very quickly over the next few weeks as owlets start emerging and start running around. For the most part, the photography on this trip was limited to the dad’s standing outside the burrow’s entrance.
Burrowing Owl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 360.
Burrowing Owl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 360.
When standing sentry, the owls are incredibly attentive and are constantly looking in all directions, including (and most importantly) skyward. They also preen alot, so you get photos like the one above where he is cleaning his foot, and the one below with a feather fluff.
Burrowing Owl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 320.
Burrowing Owl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/6.3, 1/2000 sec, ISO 640.
While watching one of the birds standing sentry, the other adult came out of the nest. She stretched for a bit, did some preening, then starting taking short runs away from the nest. I didn’t really know what she was doing. She then flew a few feet to within about 25 feet of me. She hunched over and cast a pellet. The pellet is all the indigestible parts of the prey that they regurgitate up. Pretty gross, huh.
Burrowing Owl casting a pellet. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm VR S f/6.3 supertelephoto lens at f/11, 1/2000 sec, ISO 1100.
Finally, I wanted to include a photo which shows the challenge these bird have in their local habitat. All of these birds live in a suburban environment around people, pets, and cars. You can find burrows on the side of the road, in the median of major roads, at parks, on public land, on private property, and in the case of the bird below, at a construction site where they are building some new homes.
Burrowing Owl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8 lens at f/8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 500.
If you have the opportunity, now is a great time to visit Cape Coral. Be sure to bring a long lens so as to avoid getting too close and risk disturbing these birds.
Happy birding!
