Burrowing Owl at Blanche, NS
Burrowing Owl
Every once in a while Nova Scotia gets a visit from a bird that simply should not be here. For the last 10 days or so, we’ve been treated to a bird which should be in the southern US or western Canada, a Burrowing Owl.
The Burrowing Owl is a small owl, which tends to be more active in the daylight than other owls, which is nice for viewing, and this particular owl took up residence on a beach near Blanche, NS – and so in the fog, it is pretty active during much of the day. My brother Bob is visiting the Province and so as a birder was very keen to go see the owl, so he, Norma and I drove down to Blanche yesterday and the bird was just where he’d been spotted.
Taking care not to spook him, I got some nice images, including the one this week. The Owl is basically hiding out in a bunch of large beach rocks and seems not terribly distressed by people out in front of him on “his” beach.
This owl was a bird I’d not seen in the wild before, so what birders refer to as a “Lifer”, one to go on one’s life list of birds seen if you keep such a list. The chance to see a life bird also draws people to Nova Scotia often, as the birding here is very good. It’s too bad the Tourism folks don’t seem to really be in the know about this, but birders do a lot of what we did yesterday – they drive around the Province, spending money on everything from equipment to gas to food and they tend to stay in areas for some time if the birds are cooperative. Birding is non-consumptive as no birds are hurt, and in fact good birders take great care not to disturb the birds they are viewing. It’s also a great way to observe nature and learn about the species we share this planet with.
Birding is a great pastime and all one needs is a good bird book and maybe a pair of binoculars, and off you go.
Of course, some of us take that a bit further and pack all kinds of camera gear with big lenses to be able to get good images, but that’s just some of us –I do admit to loving to share images of birds.
I hope this image of the little owl helps people understand something of the world around us.
