Burrowing Owl at the Salton Sea

We saw this little cutie at the Salton Sea this weekend. We decided to head up for the day and just take a look at the area. I’ve heard it’s a great place to visit for fall migration, but this was the first time this season that I’ve managed to actually make it there. There were lots more birds than we were expecting, but this one was by far by favorite.

If you pick up the birding guide, the cover is a little Burrowing Owl and we all decided that there was no way that we would see one on the trip although we all agreed that it would be the most exciting bird we could see while we were there. On the way back from one of locations (the fresh water reservoir) I caught a quick glance of a bird on the ground. Imagine our surprised when we backed up to see our little friend!

Owl’s hole is in between concrete and dirt next to irrigation ditch. It’s at the corner of the irrigation road and Trifolium Lateral Nine.

He didn’t seem to mind us being there, so we stopped and had a lunch in the car hoping to catch him going back into his hole. He just kept a looking over the broccoli field and would only occasionally glance our way. I was surprised he seemed to care so little that we were there.

Bored with us already

Who you lookin’ at?!?

Are you still here?

I always thought that after seeing a Great Horned Owl in my backyard that it would be my favorite owl, but his one stole my heart. I’m a total Burrowing Owl fan now. In case you want to catch a glance of this cutie and see if he steals your heart too, here is where we found him.

There are more pictures of the other Salton Sea birds to follow, but I couldn’t resist posting this one immediately.