2022
With how successful the 2021 season was, another, shorter season was added for 2022. Alex Lauber, Jeff Mach, and I lead the project with specific goals to finish within three weeks. The first was to clear the overgrown vegetation around all 230 burrows (92 sites). Next was to capture all adults on the depot and collect wing photographs of known-age birds. The pictures were collected to see if we can accurately determine the age of burrowing owls based on the barring throughout the wing. Another goal was to get an audio recording of every known-age male burrowing owl to add to a study to see if family lineages inherit calls. We accomplished all our tasks while on the study site, and I immediately left for Montana for another job. There, in eastern Montana, my co-worker, Jeff Wilson, and I were tasked with surveying for burrowing owl nest burrows and mapping them. That included scoping the burrows and looking for counts of eggs or young. The burrowing owls here would use natural burrows made by prairie dogs. Going from prairie town to prairie town scouting for about a month was a thrill.
White-washed by a juvenile common raven while banding it.
A burrow with heavy vegetation surrounding the patio.
Some vegetation control.
Posing with artificial burrows ready to be installed.
Banding a juvenile BUOW.
Wing photo of an adult female BUOW.
Myself and an adult female BUOW.
Jeff Mach, carrying two traps, and I walking back from a burrow site.
Sunset on the study site.
Clutch of baby burrowing owls.
Approximately a 15 day-old baby BUOW.
Wing photo of an adult BUOW.
Myself opening up a burrow to observe what's inside.
A clutch of babies ready to be banded.
Myself with an arm-full of baby burrowing owls.
Myself and an adult male BUOW.
Some of the landscape on the study site.
15 eggs in one nest. Most likely laid in two nesting attempts.
Posing with my 4Runner.
Jeff Mach (left), Alex Lauber (middle), and myself working on collecting the band number of a female BUOW we just caught.
Wing photo of what looks to be an older adult male BUOW.
Myself and an adult BUOW.
A gorgeous adult BUOW.
Myself and a juvenile BUOW.
Myself with the last caught BUOW for the season.
Jeff and I collecting wing photos.
Jeff and I posing for a picture.
A natural BUOW nest burrow made from prairie dogs in eastern Montana.
Another nest burrow in eastern Montana.
An adult female in her burrow viewed from a scoping burrow camera.
A clutch of newly laid BUOW eggs.
A juvenile BUOW just within the entrance of it's burrow.
Trail camera photo of a female BUOW and her eight young.
A selfie while surveying a prairie dog town for burrowing owls.