{"id":45285,"date":"2017-03-01T05:49:32","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T12:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45285"},"modified":"2025-10-14T10:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:02:52","slug":"my-burrowing-owl-fascination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/01\/my-burrowing-owl-fascination\/","title":{"rendered":"My Burrowing Owl Fascination – It Never Ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TwoTwo juvenile Burrowing Owls in early morning – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As winter begins to lose its grasp on northern Utah I have begun to look for Burrowing Owls in locations where I have seen them before.<\/p>\n

I know that there are a few hardy Burrowing Owls that hung around this winter but the ones that migrate will be arriving soon.<\/p>\n

I’ll spot them warming up in the sun in the morning near old burrows or perched on top of sagebrush, rocks, or fence posts.<\/p>\n

I’m drawn to and fascinated by these western desert Burrowing Owls because they are beautiful, interesting, and animated subjects. They are also pretty darn cute!<\/p>\n

And who can resist those lemon yellow eyes?<\/p>\n

My first experience with photographing Burrowing Owls was in Florida in Sarasota County and I believe that was the day my fascination with these owls began.<\/p>\n

When I moved from Florida to Utah the fascination grew stronger because I could photograph them more often.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Burrowing Owl looking up into the sky – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/640, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve never counted how many Burrowing Owls I spot during their time here in northern Utah but I can tell you that it is an abundance.<\/p>\n

Some years they are harder to photograph because they use burrows that are far from the road and then there are years when they use burrows so close to the roads I worry about their safety.<\/p>\n

(I always stay inside a vehicle using it as a mobile blind to photograph the owls, that stresses them less than people tromping around on foot.)<\/em><\/p>\n

From one year to the next I never know if it will be a good year for photographing these small owls but whether I photograph them or not I always get excited when I spot them outside of their burrows. Always!<\/p>\n

I’ll probably never get over my fascination with these Burrowing Owls<\/span><\/a> and honestly I really don’t want to.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I’m drawn to and fascinated by these western desert Burrowing Owls because they are beautiful, interesting and animated subjects. And they are pretty darn cute!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160323,"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":[27,1148,52,26],"tags":[55,4214,4098,4224,4067,4071,56,3967,294,4353,4104,5353,3829,2315,4516,8917,4193],"class_list":["post-45285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-utah","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-desert","tag-early-morning","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-juveniles-2","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-posts","tag-siblings","tag-summer-3","tag-western-burrowing-owl","tag-wooden-post","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-8541.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bMp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26957,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/27\/it-is-tough-being-a-bird-photographer-when-it-comes-to-burrowing-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":45285,"position":0},"title":"It Is Tough Being A Bird Photographer When It Comes To Burrowing Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You might wonder why I think it is tough being a bird photographer when it comes to Burrowing Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl perched on a watering trough, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-watering-trough-mia-mcpherson-8630.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-juvenile-watering-trough-mia-mcpherson-8630.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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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