Juvenile Burrowing Owl balancing on wireJuvenile Burrowing Owl balancing on wire – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4 TC, natural light, not baited

I’ve been thinking about Burrowing Owls a lot lately and wondering when I will see my first of the year juvenile sticking its head out of it burrow and looking around its world. The adult owls are great to photograph but the young owls are far more entertaining as they learn how to use their wings, their vision, their talons and how to hunt prey.

Young Burrowing Owl flapping its wings on a wireYoung Burrowing Owl flapping its wings on a wire – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4 TC, natural light, not baited

I photographed this juvenile Burrowing Owl balancing act last year in northern Utah not long after the sun came up and I have a series of images where it started to lose its balance, tried to regain its balance and then succeeded. In most of the images the owl looked very intent on what it was doing, in all of the images the owl was completely adorable.

Life is good.

Mia