Breakfast and Burrowing Owls

We have a fantastic little park a couple of miles away from our house- Zanjero Park.  It's not a park with a playground  but we love it.  We can take our bikes or scooters to ride and see some wildlife in their desert habitats.  Recently the AZ Raptor Rescue relocated some burrowing owls to the park.  These adorable little owls started out in a protected "tent" so they could adjust before being turned out to the burrows that were made for them all around the park.  We went shortly after they arrived to watch them through the mesh tent.  It was a bit difficult to see through the material but we did see 2 or 3 that were perched inside.  Regardless, the kids loved it so I promised them that when school got out we would venture over early, bring breakfast and see if we could see them in their natural habitat.

So one morning, armed with Dad's binoculars and some Pop Tarts we headed out, hopeful to spot an owl or two...

We weren't there ten minutes when Kaden (aka "eagle-eye") spotted an owl perched on a dirt berm right on the edge of the hay field.  I'm not great at judging distances but I suppose it was a couple hundred feet away-?  Anyway, far enough that we could make out the shape of it but needed the binoculars to see it clearly.  You can barely see it below on the mound of dirt.

 
After some squabbling about who got to use the binoculars next, we all got to see the little owl.. Already our outing was a success!

We decided we would have breakfast before meandering down onto the dirt path to see if we could see anything else. Mmmm, love those healthy Pop Tarts (a rarity around here :).

We were fortunate enough to have one more sighting before we left.  This owl had settled into a burrow right where the tent had been and when we saw him he was sitting up on his perch.  I was surprised at how close we were able to get.  Keeping this crew quiet is a tall order so when he heard us, he jumped down from his perch onto the ground, and once we were all quiet again he hopped back up.  It was fun to sit and watch him.  He's right next to the perch on the left, right near the burrow entrance...

Another highlight of the day was getting to see a big blue heron fly right over us!  We had a great morning and will likely go again soon.  I can't help but think we would see more owls the earlier we go, before it gets too hot.  But who can blame them- by midday this time of year I would rather stay in too!