Babs' Birding Experiences : BURROWING OWLS, Maricopa and Pinal Counties, Arizona

Sunday, April 6, 2022

Motivated to write about Burrowing Owls after having visited the birds' new preserve on the ASU Polytech Campus from E. Williams Road entrance, I am posting a variety of places the birds can be found in our general area.

At their previous location constructed at Zanjero Park (open to the public) on Higley Road in Gilbert, AZ, the sidewalk trail around the area put the viewer fairly close to the burrows. The perch crosses were low to the ground and frequently used by the owls who were wary but not skittish around humans on the sidewalk.

Why do people need to construct new homes for these specific Owls? Contractors who realize they have such birds on land they wish to develop arrange to have a rescue group relocate the threatened birds to Conservation areas rather than bulldozing them out of existence.

Zanjero Park was located directly below Route 202 South along Higley Road. When the Highway Department decided to build an off-ramp at that location, the birds needed new homes. After twelve (12) years from the time Desert Rivers Audubon built the many burrows in that location where they offered educational walks, it was now time to "rescue" the "rescued".

In the summer of 2021, the ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts partnered with Wild at Heart, a wildlife rehab and education organization to construct new burrows and translocate the owls from Zanjero Park to the ASU Polytech campus. It is known as The Burrowing Owls Conservation Project.

When nine of our Community Birders arrived at the ASU location, the first thing we noted was the abundant space allocated to the Burrowing Owls. Viewing from E. Lenox and E. Ulysses Avenues was quite a distance from the single owl we spotted standing outside its burrow. Address; #5 Burrow

Finding a second owl enjoying the sunshine at Burrow #8, it paid no attention to us because of our distance. Eventually, it flew off giving us a great view of its wings and how it flies. Then, we spotted it beside another burrow looking every which way. When I caught it playing what appeared to be "peek-a-boo", I tried for this very distant photo that "suggests" the bird.

Keeping the Burrowing Owls company out in the fields were Round-tailed Ground Squirrels, pictured below. They behave much like prairie dogs.

Observing the rescued BURROWING OWLS in their new habitat reminded me of how often we can actually see them in the wild, i.e., along dirt berms in agricultural lands. I've taken photos of one inside a large dry water pipe, under a piece of concrete in a dirt berm, and at other unusual places. See below, photos I've taken of them in the wild.