{"id":35067,"date":"2016-01-22T06:07:05","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T13:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=35067"},"modified":"2025-10-14T07:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:57:57","slug":"winter-burrowing-owls-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/22\/winter-burrowing-owls-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BackBack lit Burrowing Owl in winter<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week I published a post about Burrowing Owls<\/a><\/span> and said:<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be long before spring migration and the birds that come to the Great Basin to breed will arrive in great numbers, among those spring migrants that I most look forward to seeing are the Western Burrowing Owls.<\/p>\n

Well, yesterday on Antelope Island I spotted an adult Burrowing Owl back lit by the morning sun near one of the man made burrows on the island. The photo is cruddy but I enjoyed seeing this little owl. It was the first of the winter Burrowing Owls I was to find yesterday while on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn adult Burrowing Owl at its burrow in winter<\/span><\/p>\n

I spotted another adult Burrowing Owl just outside of its burrow less than an hour later, it was all scrunched down and didn’t open its eyes except for the tiniest sliver. The owl looked cold and it was cold.<\/p>\n

I’ve seen other Burrowing Owls in winter months here but I hadn’t seen any of them since November so I was excited to find these two.<\/p>\n

\"SiblingSibling Burrowing Owl juveniles in the desert<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing them reminded me of how much fun these owls can be to photograph, especially the juveniles. They are so very photogenic, funny, and animated.<\/p>\n

\"BurrowingBurrowing Owl family at its burrow<\/span><\/p>\n

Burrowing Owl juveniles seem so curious about their surroundings and that extends to the people who are watching them. That is until one of the adults brings in food and then they are all about filling their belly and keeping their siblings away from their meal!<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of juvenile Burrowing Owls enjoying the morning light<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be months before I see young Burrowing Owls but finding the two adults yesterday brought a huge smile to my face and brightened up my winter day.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Burrowing Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the first of the winter Burrowing Owls I was to find yesterday while on Antelope Island State Park. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1148,52,1022,26],"tags":[4004,2485,2663,4054,4214,56,3967,294,4353,4104,4516,373],"class_list":["post-35067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-back-lit","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-burrow","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-juveniles-2","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-western-burrowing-owl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-5674.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-97B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":35067,"position":0},"title":"ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 – The Burrowing Owl!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It was announced yesterday that the Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! Burrowing Owls are small, long-legged, sandy-colored, charismatic owls with bright yellow eyes.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Burrowing Owl on a stump in soft morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I felt it was time to put the beauty of the adult Burrowing Owls in the limelight.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult western Burrowing Owl in morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Western Burrowing Owls populations are declining, human population explosion and subsequent urban development plus habitat degradation has reduced Burrowing Owl populations by 60% and that number is still rising.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult and juvenile Burrowing Owl on sagebrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-adult-juvie-mia-mcpherson-5881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-adult-juvie-mia-mcpherson-5881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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