Nature on Demand
by Ross
This afternoon (March 9, 2011) my friends are taking a nature photographer (me) and his wife to see ‘burrowing owls’. They had heard they were nesting in a particular urban setting (Fort Meyers area,Fla.). This had been confirmed by emailed images from another acquaintance of theirs. When we arrived at our destination I learned they had no specific street location, just drive around until we find them. Well, I like an adventure as much as the next fellow, but this was beginning to feel like the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’. And their email info was the owls were nesting in open fields and the areas were delineated in some manner with sticks/crosses??
Up and down and around we went, four sets of eyes searching for the elusive owls. Then something interesting was spotted. A small open area marked off with yellow ‘caution’ tape and wooden stakes. The vehicle was wheeled around, we stopped, got out. This was it! A sign said so, several burrows were obvious. But no owls.
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Nest Site
Back in the truck. Well, at least now we knew what to look for. The search continued. We stopped and asked folks about the owls. Some had not even heard about them, others knew where vacated nest sites were located. ‘Round and ’round we went – oh look, there’s another empty lot with yellow ‘caution’ tape around it.
Screech (not really, but that’s how it felt emotionally). Someone had spotted something peeking from one of the burrows. Out we jumped, cameras and tripod in hand, quickly moving towards the barricade tape and anxiously pressing shutter buttons. Ya gotta love motor drives. The poor owls didn’t have a chance. And yeah one of our group spooked them back down into their burrow.
I decided to do what I would do if I was in a wilderness setting, I sat on the ground, shortened the legs of my tripod, set the camera up, and … waited. My wife and my friends stood nearby for a few minutes, but when the owls had not re-appeared they retired to the truck to wait in comfort. Time stands still for me in such a situation, but not for the occupants of the vehicle. I could feel three sets of eyes boring into my back.
Eventually I captured some great shots of the pair of owls, eventually I returned to the truck and we left. And I had doubted that my friends could supply nature on demand. “O ye of little faith”.
Thank you K. and friends for your patience with me, with the owls.
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) at Nest Site, Florida