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My Favorite: Burrowing Owls are relatively easy to find during the summer months in South Dakota. If you find a prairie dog town in the central or western part of the state, you have a good chance of also finding Burrowing Owls. I've made many treks west to the wonderful grasslands in central and western South Dakota, but my favorite Burrowing Owl photo is the one that came as the biggest surprise.
In August 2008 I was returning home from a work trip, flying into Sioux Falls. I was making the 8 mile drive back to our home in Brandon, taking a paved road that didn't get a huge amount of traffic, when I saw a bird on a fence post up in the distance. As I passed, I had to do a double-take...Burrowing Owl!! I slowly reversed to confirm, and yes! A Burrowing Owl, just a few miles from our home!
Burrowing Owls used to be more broadly spread in the Great Plains, but with the plowing of land for cropland, such as the majority of land in eastern South Dakota, their habitat had been removed. There's thus a relatively sharp cutoff in sightings down the middle of the state, with few sightings in eastern South Dakota. No breeding had been confirmed within ~150 miles of where this bird was found. And as I soon learned, it wasn't just one, it was a breeding pair with young! There was an old badger hole in an alfalfa field that they seemed to be using as their home base. There were at least 3 young and the two adults, and I had a wonderful time that August and September watching the little family, before they drifted off one by one and headed south for the winter.
My favorite photo here may be the ONLY bird I have photos from on my entire website, taken at night. I had a blast that night, watching them feed on grasshoppers and other insect critters near the road.
Burrowing Owl 1July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 2July 17th 2004 Near Pierre, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 3July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 4July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 5July 4th, 2005 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 6July 27th, 2009 Antelope Island near Great Salt Lake, Utah |
Burrowing Owl 7July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 8July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 9July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 10July 29th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 11July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 12July 29th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 13August 22nd, 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 14August 22nd, 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 15September 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 16September 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota |
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Burrowing Owl 17July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 18July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 19July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Burrowing Owl 20July 3rd, 2017 Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, South Dakota |
Click here for the species description page for the Burrowing Owl
All photos copyrighted! Click for information on commerical usage, or usage for other personal purposes.
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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl