Friday, December 02, 2011

Burrowing Owl

Fort Myers, Florida

We hung around the house most of the day.  We did some laundry and then decided to take a drive to Cape Coral to search for the elusive Burrowing Owl.

The photographer, Eric that we met at Corkscrew Swamp told us these little owls could be found in Cape Coral, near the library.  He said to look for the little wooden crosses that have been put up for them to roost on.  We decided to see if we could find them.  They are not an endangered species, but a “species of special concern.”  There are only  an estimated 3ooo in Florida.

They are unusual in that they are active during the day and live in burrows underground.

We drove to the library and immediately saw the white pcv pipes that surrounded many of the burrows, and also the crosses that Eric mentioned.

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We looked and looked all over the area.  There were a lot of nest areas….but no owls.  The pcv pipes were surrounding the burrows to keep lawn mowers from riding over them.   Cape Coral seems to be pretty protective of their owls.

We thought we were going to leave without seeing any of the little owls……

but Al finally  spotted two of them in one area.

One was quite a bit smaller than the other.  They were very cute!  They look much bigger in the picture than they really are.

Burrowing Owl

They were only about 9 inches long….much smaller than I thought they would be.

Burrowing Owl

 

Burrowing Owl

 

Burrowing Owl

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They hang out near their burrow and just sit there and watch you.  They didn’t appear to be nervous and just watched me take their pictures.

It was definitely worth the drive to Cape Coral.  They were just so darn cute!

We have really enjoyed our campsite.  We chose a site away from the crowds and have been able to look out our windows and see trees and grass….and no other rv’s…..

until today!

Today we got two rv’s from Quebec on one side.  They appeared to be traveling together.  They set their motor homes up a little differently than I’ve seen before.  Both rv’s have tarps completely underneath the entire rv.  The tires are all off the ground as well.  Al thinks they are trying to keep the bugs away.   The campground may not be too happy with that set up though because that grass will be completely dead when they leave.

We also got a big Winnebago on the other side.  Gone is our pretty view!  Oh well, it’s to be expected this time of year. 

We like this campground.  I’ll take some pictures later.

11 comments:

  1. Awesome pictures of the owls well worth the trip!

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  2. Your photos are great ~ did you ever see the movie Hoot??? It's a cute movie about some land developers trying to build and a kid that is trying to stop them because of the bueeowing owls... We have been invaded by the french Canadians too... on both sides of us... They are all very nice but never speak english,
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  3. Those owls are adorable! Great pictures.
    One cardinal rule of setting up is DO NOT have your wheels off the ground. That is the best way to break the windshield! We have talked with at least four people that made this mistake. They were leveling, lifted the front wheels off the ground and left it that way. All four had broken or windshields that popped out.
    If they are so afraid of bugs, maybe they shouldn't go to FL. How strange.

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  4. Don't you just love those big yellow eyes? Great pics!

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  5. Those big yellow eyes are so piercing. Their feathers really do blend in with their surroundings.
    Syl

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  6. Love the owl pictures-glad you were able to see some. Plus, never heard of a motorhome setting up like that-strange.

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  7. OMG those little owls are adorable...sooo cute...I must be sure to look them up when we are down there...humm parking on the tarps I've seen that before but never had the nerve to ask the reasons why....have a good weekend.

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  8. Your pictures are just fabulous of these little owls. The one in the grass really gives a feel for how small they actually are. Great shots!! What fun seeing them.

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  9. Oh what great Owl photos! I'm glad you found the sneaky little hiders - so cool! Owl's are so unique looking.
    Very strange that they put tarps under their rigs, then jacked them up like that. Now let those winds rip open on them - yikes! I can't even imagine...

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  10. Those owls are adorable. Love that zoom! Sure hope you can get some close up shots of those RV's on the tarps. Weird! Good idea to post on Rv.net for locale suggestions.

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  11. Great pics of the owls, but I bet they were even better to accually see them.
    where's weaver-- Thanks for the tip on windshields, though I can't figure why they would want their RV that high. I think the tarps might be to keep the humidity out from under their RV. We will see what happens when it rains:)

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