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<\/a><\/a>I don’t normally give away locations of nests or owl locations; however, these owls are well-known and their nests are clearly marked with yellow tape to encourage visitors to stay a safe distance away. It’s the strangest thing:Brian Piccolo Park is a community park with baseball and soccer fields, and these owls are nesting right next to the parking lots in the park.<\/p>\n
We drove in and almost immediately saw the yellow tape surrounding the nest with an owl perched on the ground in front of the nest. I didn’t want to disturb the owl, so when the owl returned to its burrow, we crawled up to a safe distance and laid down in the grass.<\/p>\n
When the owl came out again, we stayed motionless while photographing the bird. The owl seemed very comfortable with this, and I can see no reason why anyone would need to come anywhere near the nest.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, I’ve seen eBird documentation photos from here where the photographer was clearly pointing the camera down into the burrow, suggesting that the photographer was standing way too close. I don’t get this at all.<\/p>\n With all the stresses on these birds–nearby parking lots and stray soccer balls, they don’t need one more stress. And with a little patience, laying down in the grass will get you better photos anyway. Aside from the bug bite I received while laying in the grass, it was about the most rewarding 10 minutes of bird photography I can think of.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n