Having see a pair of burrowing owls in the Lower Klamath NWR on my way home from Colorado, I was curious if they had had any chicks, so I drove over to the refuge a couple days ago. I found the burrow with one adult owl hanging around the entrance, but it was much more skittish than the first time I saw it. It ran down the burrow any time I got close the the burrow itself. Each time I drove off and returned a few minutes later, the owl was back on guard duty outside the burrow. So instead of driving off, the third time I just figured out a way to park the car about 15 ft. away from the burrow and used it as a blind (of sorts.) After about 5 minutes of waiting, the adult bird returned outside the burrow, looked at the car a little confused, but accepted it and let me take what pictures I wanted. I had the refuge pretty much to myself, so I would hang out with the owl for a while, then drive around the refuge burning up time for better light later in the afternoon. When I first arrived, I had seen two owls at the burrow, but the first ran back down the burrow before I could get close, so I knew the bird I was seeing was not alone. Finally in the afternoon, as I was watching the adult bird, a
smaller head popped up over the edge of the burrow rim, only to disappear again quickly. A few minutes later, it reappeared with another smaller head–two chicks! Both chicks appeared healthy and pretty well grown, making me a little sorry I hadn’t driven over to the basin sooner and seen them earlier.
Watching the family several times over the afternoon, I became aware that I was seeing only one adult. It appears that the mate was no longer around, leaving all the parenting duties to the remaining parent. I could tell she (or he) was definitely getting worn out and losing weight. Hopefully , the chicks are getting grown enough to start fending for themselves pretty soon and allowing the adult to feed itself some more. I wish I could dump a supply of owl food at the mouth of the burrow to make things easier for them all, but I guess that’s not practical. So we’ll keep track of the little guys and pray for the best.