{"id":46046,"date":"2017-04-07T06:15:20","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T12:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46046"},"modified":"2025-10-14T10:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:17:32","slug":"burrowing-owl-at-its-burrow-on-a-cloudy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/07\/burrowing-owl-at-its-burrow-on-a-cloudy-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Burrowing Owl At Its Burrow On A Cloudy Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BurrowingBurrowing Owl adult at burrow on a cloudy day – Nikon D500, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Burrowing Owls are appearing in the desert landscape of northern Utah at the moment. Some of these desert owls tough out the harsh winters here but most migrate in the fall to return in the spring to find their mates and have young.<\/p>\n

I am seeing more and more older burrows with mated pairs peeking out of the burrows or perching on nearby posts, rocks, or shrubs. I’m also seeing new burrows that didn’t exist last year with single owls or mated pairs.<\/p>\n

Some burrows are used for years and have been the home of many young owls before they grow up and leave to find their own territories.<\/p>\n

I often wonder if the Burrowing Owls I see and photograph are owls I photographed while they were young. I’ll never know of course but given their high mortality rates prior to their first migration I find myself cheering them on.<\/p>\n

I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. The light certainly wasn’t the best but it wasn’t horrible either.<\/p>\n

I cranked up my ISO to have faster shutter speed all the while hoping the owl would move up above the burrow so I could get full body photos but this owl decided to head into its burrow after I had only taken five images of it.<\/p>\n

Still, I am happy with the few images I took of this owl.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142052,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,52,1022,26],"tags":[4004,55,2663,4054,4214,11978,4109,5783,3967,294,2208,165,4516],"class_list":["post-46046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-burrowing-owls","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-burrow","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-desert-island","tag-grasses","tag-nesting-burrow","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-redstem-filaree","tag-spring","tag-western-burrowing-owl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/burrowing-owl-in-burrow-mia-mcpherson-4466.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bYG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46408,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/21\/side-lit-male-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":46046,"position":0},"title":"Side Lit Male Burrowing Owl – Early Morning Light And Wildflowers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two mornings ago I photographed the side lit male Burrowing Owl with wildflowers in the background but with all the rain we have been having it won't be long before the vegetation completely obscures the burrow and the owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Side lit male Burrowing Owl in wildflowers, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.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-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":46046,"position":1},"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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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back lit Burrowing Owl in winter on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-5674.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-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-5674.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-5674.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-5674.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.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-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20973,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/18\/grumpy-looking-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":46046,"position":4},"title":"Grumpy Looking Burrowing Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not saying that the 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