Getting together and shooting together in Southern California
Gary @sum1sgrampa is currently in Southern California. @bobbytan, Gary and I visited 2 birding locations here locally. We did the first fairly early in the morning and it was my favorite burrowing owl site. In the afternoon, we went to a large park where a family of 5 white-tailed kites calls that home.
Last year I noticed and reported a drastic decline of the owl population there. Now, there are at least 2 burrows; there are one owlet and an adult in one and the other is pretty crowded with at least a single adult and 5 owlets. What a delight to see that the conditions are better compared to last year’s conditions. The question remains how long they will remain there since the property was slotted for development but the plan was delayed, which I assumed due to the pandemic.
The currently gloomy weather conditions make June bugs stay underground. In warm weather they emerge from the ground and fly around. They become favorite meals for those owls. Maybe we have to wait another month for that condition to arrive. Gary and I were talking while waiting for more owlets to get out of the burrow, when all the sudden an adult owl landed there with a fairly big rat. All three of us missed the landing . The adult owl then dragged the catch into the burrow and not to be seen again for a while. The owlets at the other burrow cannot fly yet. They bunched up at the opening of the burrow and we could snapped a few family pictures of them. They are fun to watch.
The juveniles of the WTKs are active and are flying around at this stage. We witnessed a few mid-air food transfers but they happened too far away from our spot. One of the chicks that got the mouse flew somewhat closer to our location and I snapped a few images that are posted here.
It was great to be able to put a face on the name and to shoot together with Gary. I am looking forward to the next outing wherever that maybe.
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
Getting together and shooting together in Southern California
Gary @sum1sgrampa is currently in Southern California. @Bobby Tan, Gary and I visited 2 birding locations here locally. We did the first fairly early in the morning and it was my favorite burrowing owl site. In the afternoon, we went to a large park where a family of 5 white-tailed kites calls that home.
Last year I noticed and reported a drastic decline of the owl population there. Now, there are at least 2 burrows; there are one owlet and an adult in one and the other is pretty crowded with at least a single adult and 5 owlets. What a delight to see that the conditions are better compared to last year’s conditions. The question remains how long they will remain there since the property was slotted for development but the plan was delayed, which I assumed due to the pandemic.
The currently gloomy weather conditions make June bugs stay underground. In warm weather they emerge from the ground and fly around. They become favorite meals for those owls. Maybe we have to wait another month for that condition to arrive. Gary and I were talking while waiting for more owlets to get out of the burrow, when all the sudden an adult owl landed there with a fairly big rat. All three of us missed the landing . The adult owl then dragged the catch into the burrow and not to be seen again for a while. The owlets at the other burrow cannot fly yet. They bunched up at the opening of the burrow and we could snapped a few family pictures of them. They are fun to watch.
The juveniles of the WTKs are active and are flying around at this stage. We witnessed a few mid-air food transfers but they happened too far away from our spot. One of the chicks that got the mouse flew somewhat closer to our location and I snapped a few images that are posted here.
It was great to be able to put a face on the name and to shoot together with Gary. I am looking forward to the next outing wherever that maybe.
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
May 09, 2021 at 02:14 PM
Previous versions of AGeoJO's message #15591099 « Getting together and shooting together in Southern California »
. The adult owl then dragged the catch into the burrow and not to be seen again for a while. The owlets at the other burrow cannot fly yet. They bunched up at the opening of the burrow and we could snapped a few family pictures of them. They are fun to watch.