COBirders,
I am interested to know if Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) has been documented before February 2016 from El Paso County, Colorado. I looked at eBird records but they didn’t reveal any winter records of this species from El Paso County except for February of 2016. This owl was first found, as far as I know, by Alan Versaw on 12 February from Big Johnson Reservoir (Bluestem Prairie Open Space). If above ground, it is viewable from the parking area with the aid of a spotting scope. Mark Peterson electronically measured the distance from the parking lot to the black-tailed prairie-dog colony where the owl is to be looked for and the distance is > 1 mile. I memorized the landmarks near the owl and walked to the north side of the res and I could see part of the owl’s head sticking out of a p-dog burrow (see photo) fairly close to the trail and inside the restricted area on 24 February. I have only seen the owl on one of four visits. I am also posting this to see what dimensions a photograph should be in order to be inserted into the text of a COBirds post and to see if this post works for me. FYI, Big Johnson Reservoir is now ice free with tons of ducks and Horned Grebes now increasing in numbers.
Bill Maynard, Colorado Springs
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