Adult male Burrowing Owl at the entrance to his burrow – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
One year ago today I spent time photographing an adult male Burrowing Owl at his burrow that was surrounded by Redstem Filaree, a pink wildflower.
The burrow was close to the road and the owl was very cooperative so I took several hundred images of him. The male Burrowing Owl wasn’t very active, I think he was outside of the entrance to the burrow enjoying the warmth of the rising sun. I took photos with my 1.4x teleconverter both on and off, with this close up the teleconverter was on.
The wildflowers in the background added a nice pop of color to all of the images I took of this male Burrowing Owl. I haven’t photographed any Burrowing Owls yet this year but I hope to do that soon.
I can go to Antelope Island again because Governor Herbert lifted the orders that for several weeks only allowed residents of Davis County on the island because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I am glad I didn’t try to head out there yesterday, just look at the mess that was created by him lifting the order. No thanks. Even if the biting gnats weren’t out to suck my blood I am avoiding the island for a while. That traffic would suck the joy out of being there.
And then this happened this morning…
Empty Amber Alert – April 19, 2020
At 3:33 (translation: o’dark hundred) am my phone started screeching and wailing loud enough to wake the dead. I panicked a bit thinking it was was alerting me to another major earthquake or a freaking attack on our country. I grabbed my phone and saw the SMS message above.
What the hell? An Amber alert that says basically nothing? What good does an alert like that do?
Guess what? The last three times there has been an Amber alert we have gotten the same worthless message from our state government. No link to where information could be found.
People who need the Amber alert info the most are those who are already on the road, people who can’t be using their phones to try and look up the Amber alert information and be hands free.
So I was wide awake before my alarm was set to go off and tried to find out information of the Amber alert. The utah.gov web site was down. Huge help, right? Either they were doing maintenance at the time they sent the alert or our state web site can’t handle the traffic an amber alert caused in the middle of the night. And if that is the case that is pathetic.
Twitter Amber Alert – April 19, 2020
I found information on the Amber alert this morning on Twitter. @Utah.gov on Twitter used a graphic to relay the Amber alert information. Kind of makes me wonder if they have been trying to send the same kind of graphic via SMS text messages for Amber alerts.
Guess what?
You can’t send images via SMS text messages, that requires MMS text messaging. Short message service (SMS), the standard for sending text messages, supports up to 160 characters of text only.
If this is what has been happening that causes blank Amber alerts in Utah someone needs to be fired and they can start with the top offices. Their IT department should also know better.
I’m supposed to trust the Utah government to know when to safely re-open the state now during the Covid-19 global pandemic but they can’t get even get Amber alerts right?
Yeah, I don’t think so.
I realize I sound a bit aggravated this morning and to be fair I was only awakened about 17 minutes earlier than I normally wake up which really won’t bother me but what does upset me is the failure of the state government and their inability to send an effective, informative Amber alert.
Stay safe.
Mia
Love the owl.
Sigh on the alert.
I do hope the restrictions haven’t been lifted prematurely.
I love these Owls. I was so surprised when I saw how small they are. Maybe that is why I could not send a photo by SMS yesterday. Thanks, because now I know what those letters stand for.
What fieldmarks distinguish adult male and female? Did find this, but nothing on allaboutbirds.org
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Male-and-female-Burrowing-Owls-male-on-the-left-female-on-the-right-Lighter-plumage-on_fig2_240632187
Another great photo!
Mary, when the owls first return from their breeding grounds it is a bit of a challenge to sex them because they are the same size, generally I’ve fund that the males have a lighter colored face. Later in the summer the male has a more bleached out look and the female is darker which might occur because she spends more time in the darkness of the burrow and he spends more time in direct sunlight.
Here is a comparison photo:
Burrowing Owls, male on left, female on the right. Photo taken on the same day in the same area.
The RF in front of our house isn’t in bloom yet, but the dandelions next door sure are — a beautiful yellow carpet. 🌼 I’m thinking of picking some and making a salad or something else with them. I’m glad you took lots of pictures of this little fella — the chubby grumpiness hits the spot this morning!
CA has had the Amber Alert system figured out for a long time — the screech is most unsettling, though, even if I’m awake.
Beautiful owl. I have not seen any yet, I hope to soon. But between the crowds and the gnats most likely not Antelope Island.
I have a friend who went to Spiral Jetty yesterday and it was incredibly crowded. I also had a friend go to BRMBR yesterday and it was a madhouse of fast moving cars. I stay home on Saturdays when most people are out. Now that I am not working everyday is a weekend.
I did not get the Amber alert. If I had I would think it was another quake too.
April, apparently people were all over the place yesterday. Glad I stayed home.
Last week the gnats were out and seriously biting on Antelope Island. The Midges weren’t swarming yet.
The screeching and wailing of the phone would have been enough to unnerve me and set me off for the day. Regardless of whether it was only 17 minutes before you would normally be awake, it’s a jolt to the system. BTW….love the pink in the background of the little Burrowing Owl.