One Man’s Drain is Another Owl’s Castle~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life

Burrowing Owls are a species of special concern and are disappearing in Southern California.

The species is listed as threatened in Mexico,

and endangered in Canada.

It is rare to see them in Southern California as their ecosystems have been goobled up by development.

See: https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/western-burrowing-owl-southern-california-disappearing-threatened

These burrowing owls are protected at The Salton Sea Nature Preserve in Southern California.

The preserve sets up multiple drain pipes for the owls to shelter in from predators and marks them with signage to keep humans from bothering them.

It is always a major thrill when these tiny owls (they are only 9 inches high) decide to come out of hiding and people watch!

Cheers to you from the wonderful Burrowing Owls at The Salton Sea~

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271 thoughts on “One Man’s Drain is Another Owl’s Castle~”

  2. Very nice to see these owls being given a better chance to survive and thrive, Cindy. Always a good feeling when you see and hear someone giving a “hoot” about Mother Nature.🦉

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  10. Great photos of these beautiful little owls, Cindy, thanks for sharing. In Canada, they have sadly lost 2/3 of their habitat due to urbanization and agricultural expansion with fewer than 1,000 breeding pairs left in the prairies. Our federal Recovery Strategy includes conservation measures such as stewarding habitat, discouraging the extermination of prey species, and using predator-proof artificial nest burrows. Wildlife Preservation Canada is also breeding owls to soft-release into the wild in an effort to re-establish populations that have disappeared within their historical range. Let’s hope there’s a brighter future ahead for these adorable owls!

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    1. Wonderful and encouraging that Canada is making such a concerted effort. It is interesting that in Southern California the place you can find them in the wild is in The Sonoran Desert. This is such hostile habitat to humans that the owls have a better chance of survival ღ

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  12. One of the world’s most adorable owls. 💕 You would think that it would be in farmers best interest to provide habitat for them, given the natural pest control they provide.

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  14. There used to be a colony on the edge of Cal Expo in Sacramento, Cindy. For years I would look for (and often find them) behind the fairgrounds. They may still be there. I find them charming. I don’t know how else to put it. Thanks.

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    1. So happy you enjoyed them! The drainpipes are an excellent idea, especially since they aren’t connected to any water source. I hear from bloggers that Florida is doing a impressive job of protecting them ღ

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  19. I think these are the same kind of owls they have on Marco Island, Florida. They make their nests in the ground, and are small. They’re protected there, so whenever a nest is discovered, it’s roped off to keep people at a distance and no one is allowed to build on a lot where they reside. They’re also quite cute!

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  23. I didn’t know that owls came in that size. 😀 so cute & beautiful. Great photos.
    The chipmunks like those plastic water diverters as well. I left one out that detached from our downspout for a while because they were having fun running through them.
    However, that very same one, when attached, as I was watering plants, I heard commotion in it. I yanked it off to find two wet & panicked birds trapped at where it began to curve away from the house. I guess our gutter guard has a gap somewhere.

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      1. You’re too kind, Cindy. I’m not going out of my way (except when I spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to capture bugs in the house to give them better lives outside befor the dog finds them) or doing anything great, just trying to keep things alive as we enjoy them.

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  24. Pingback: One Man’s Drain is Another Owl’s Castle~ – charles french words reading and writing

  25. My sisters have managed to keep a 148 acre farm going which — due to the last glaciers dropping a variety of rocks and clay as they receded across upstate NY many thousands of years ago — has a surprisingly wide variety of micro-ecosystems and habitats. These support a variety of birds and wildlife (which experts from nearby Cornell University have helped them to appreciate, savor and protect (by not mowing when certain birds are breeding, etc.) We definitely need to have more human beings who lobby on behalf of mother nature to our governments here on planet earth. Regarding burrowing owls — and your WONDERFUL photos — we had a family friend who lived on the upper West side of Manhattan with a burrowing owl in her large apartment (plus lots of mice being bred in what was once a servant’s bedroom behind her kitchen to feed the owl…) Her owl was very sweet — as were her skunk, her hedgehogs, and her two Komondor (Hungarian sheepdogs). She had a children’s book written about her and her unusual life with a surprising variety of animals…

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    1. I think I very much like your friends, and your sisters! And you know what they say about about a person and the company they keep…… I know what a Komondor is. Quite an distinctive adogable. I use to keep all sorts of creatures as a kid, drove my mother nuts, hid them in closets and such. I’ve completely grown out of this of course 😉 😉

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  31. The human invasion in balanced ecosystem ruins that balance and makes life for animals, birds and themselves too miserable. Lately we moved in to rural area to escape city mess. However, in three years of our living here the new developments grow up like a hell. Definitely, all inhabitants of these places trying to find shelter to live, and they come closer to our houses too. This is why we are feeling ourselves like guests. 🙂

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    1. I know exactly how you feel Alexander. Hemmed in. For people who love natural spaces, this is torture. Some of us truly need and crave, more nature, less civilization. I hear you my friend. I am sorry ღ

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  32. Oh so wonderful to see the burrowing owl here, Cindy. I appreciated you photographing the drain pipe set-up that the folks at the Salton Sea have cleverly provided, and loved every one of these photos.

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  36. Those little guys are lovely. They used to be called “chats-huants” (howling cats) in France. Nested in the hedges… I’d go to sleep at night in our house in Normandy where we spent the summer… (Or did I already say that?)
    They’re very vulnerable to destruction of their environment and pesticides. Since they’re at the top of the food chain they eat a lot of accumulated pesticides… Sad really.
    Thanks for the pix.

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    1. I bet you loved going to sleep listening to them. At The Holler, Many nights I am lulled to sleep by the call and response of Great Horned Owls on our roofs. Our whole family loves them ღ

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  37. Anonymous

    Love them! There is a citizen science project on Zooniverse that allows one to look at trail camera images in a burrowing owl area in San Diego County. The SD Zoo participates in this project, and has a burrowing owl habitat in the Basecamp area of the zoo. But you probably know about this!

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    1. I know the SD Zoo is breeding burrowing owls for supervised release, but I didn’t know you could see the trail camera images.Trail Cameras are a brilliant idea for burrowing owl monitoring. They should put trail cameras on the nests in The Salton Sea. We could see who preys on the owls, if people bother them, and we could see the owls hunting and interacting, even at night ღ

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      1. Nice to meet you as well! My interest in birds has increased extensively over the past few years. They are far more interesting than people think. Something we take for granted, unfortunately.

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  50. We have them here in Saskatchewan as well. I did know they were endangered and hope they can make it despite losing so much habitat. Bernie

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    1. It is amazing isn’t it, that they cover so much territory, from the Southern California Desert to stunning Saskatchewan. We need to protect our planet and all her amazing creatures დ

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