It has been a delightful week down here in Florida, and tomorrow Molly and I head back to northern Minnesota where a minor owl invasion appears to be in progress. The last few days have seen a Boreal Owl spotted and a Great Gray Owl seen hunting right at the 21st Ave. East exit on I35 … not normal habitat for this deep forest bird.

However it is still warm sun and blue skies for one more day. This morning I took my first bicycle birding ride in a looooooong time … perfect vision on board thanks to my Botox treatment. While the birds did not exactly knock me over I thoroughly enjoyed my 18 mile ride. I did see a Common Gallinule for the second time in my life. This bird definitely has a wierd squawk which is what first attracted my attention.

Common Gallinule.

I returned to the Pelican Beach fields early this morning. My primary target were the “Butcher Birds” (aka Loggerhead Shrikes) which I had seen two days ago. The clouds cleared and I was rewarded with quality time with this duo. Why named a Butcher Bird? Although not bigger than a robin, they catch mice, songbirds and insects. Upon capture they often swing their prey till its neck brakes. If hunting is real successful the Loggerhead Shrike will impale extra dead prey on the barbs of barbed wire. Kind of sounds like a real butcher. I am used to seeing this bird’s northern cousin, the Northern Shrike.

Loggerhead Shrikes

Given my location, I obviously spent time watching all the Burrowing Owls. When one hopped up onto a post, I was lucky enough to see the owl fly into a palm tree. Otherwise I never would have seen the owl in the palm.

Burrowing Owl … Standing … On a Post … in a Palm Tree

Finally, lots of Monk Parakeets nest in the ballpark lights.

One should always look for unexpected pleasures in life, and a little bit of research helps you find these gems. Given I am spending the week down in Fort Myers, Florida I decided to casually examine what other kinds of birds might be in the area … my surprise finding was I found myself near one of the hotbed capitals of Burrowing Owls. Good ole eBird, and specifically this range map of sightings led to my discovery (I use the Snowy Owl map, then change species and dates). Apparently the town of Cape Coral which is borders Fort Myers has made the Burrowing Owl their official “town bird” and even pays residents $250 to maintain proper habitat / burrows. (read CNN article).

My research indicated the Pelican Baseball Field in Cape Coral was the real focal point. Arriving shortly after sunrise our group found a huge number of burrows … including eight owls greeting the early morning light. I had even convinced non birders (my wife and our hosts) a sunrise trip would be a real treat. They were not disappointed!

Burrowing Owls of Cape Coral (videos follow still images)

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Videos (note: in the second video you are seeing sand being tossed out of a hole by an owl in the actual act of burrowing)(video links for email subscribers: Vid1 … Vid2)