Burrowing Owl ‘Love’
Last week I attempted another drive-by on some of the Burrowing Owl locations on Marco Island in hopes of seeing one again, maybe catch a glimpse of a chick. One chick has already been seen by another!
At one location, a lone male owl was sitting at a burrow entrance. Well outside their respected area, I was putting the sun behind me to take a shot, when the female emerged from a separate burrow in their compound.
As soon as she popped out, the male flew over and landed alongside her. You can see the sand still kicked up in the first photo of him landing on the left.
With a quick “Hey Sweetheart” look, the male attempted to mate with her. She certainly didn’t look too pleased, did she?
(click on the first photo to run through the full series)
Burrowing Owl “Love”
Maybe it wasn’t so successful this try, but didn’t he give her a little head nuzzling during? It looked like it to me! Awwww…….
While the male stood guard, the female immediately went to kicking sand out of their burrow.