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Re: [birdnet] Burrowing Owl on AIC



Paul confirmed this afternoon that there are two Burrowing Owls.  He marked
both locations with surveyor's tape; red, I think.  The owl on the road to
Garr is sometimes difficult to find as it hunkers down in the rocks.

Kris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy@comcast.net>
To: "Utah Birdnet" <birdnet@utahbirds.org>; <birdtalk@utahbirds.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 12:26 PM
Subject: Burrowing Owl on AIC


I got a call this morning (11:45 am) from Paul Higgins with timely
information about a BURROWING OWL on the causeway.  Paul saw the bird
this morning perching on concrete barriers on the south side of the
causeway between mm 3 and 2.  Paul thought the bird appeared to be
excavating based on the dirt he saw flung out on the snow.  Additional
observations of this behavior would be interesting as the scientific
literature has only documented excavating behavior in the Florida
subspecies of the Burrowing Owl. Paul also saw the owl eject a pellet.
How cool--gurrrrrrpppP!

A second Burrowing Owl location where an owl was seen four times last
week is on the road to Garr Ranch.  Once you've taken the final left
turn to Garr and prepare for the 11-mile drive down the east side of the
island, you'll drive up a long incline and pass through an opening in a
chain link fence.  The Burrowing Owl has been seen in the "Chukar" rocks
at the top of that incline, south side of the road and just before the
road makes the next gentle turn.

The Burrowing Owl is classified as a rare winter resident on the Utah
checklist. One was documented on the Antelope Island CBC 2 years ago.
Let's hope this one sticks around.

On an additional note, birdnet posts have not hit the archives on the
Utah Birds website since December 9th.  If you're subscribed to birdtalk
but not birdnet and you review rare sightings in the archives, "missing"
reports include some great gulls (eeeuuuwww--did I just type that?!?),
Long-tailed Ducks, and a Winter Wren.  Distribution of birdnet posts to
subscribers may not be affected.

Kris

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