The Burrowing Owls Of Cape Coral

As a nature and wildlife photographer, I am always looking for new subjects. Many of the birds and flowers that I photograph are subjects that show up repeatedly in my work. And that's ok, because there will always be new and fresh ways to make images of the same subject, depending on the background, the quality of light, composition, and so forth.

But it really is a nice change of pace when you can work with a photo subject that you have never taken before. For me, the burrowing owls in Cape Coral, FL are just such a refreshing change. I had heard of these unique owls that actually build their homes in the ground instead of trees, but I had never seen them and certainly had no experience whatsoever in photographing them.

But since my wife and I planned to take a short vacation in the Fort Myers area, I figured it might be a great opportunity to check out these amazing birds. Fortunately, there is a great resource online that provides a map of some of the most common places where these owls can be found throughout the Cape Coral area. You can find that map here.

I am happy to say that the map was a great help and led us right to the owls on the first try. The map outlines five areas around the city where the owls have been known to make their home. In most cases, the map was right on. The only place that we could not find any owls was around Cape Coral's City Hall.

Apparently, this is not unusual as I understand that the owls move around from year to year and set up shop in a different location whenever they feel it is necessary to do so. For some reason then, city hall is no longer desirable real estate for the owls, at least not for this year anyway.

But the other locations on the map all had burrowing owl nests, some more than others. And these owls make for some great photo opportunities! They are easily accessible, there is usually not a crowd around, and as long as you aren't foolish and try to get too close, they put up with your presence without much complaint.

Here are a few burrowing owl images that I took while we in Cape Coral for the day:

A pair of owls perched outside their home

Talk about curious - this one thought we were pretty odd

Another owl pair in the tall grass

I highly recommend a long lens when working with these owls. I used a 500mm Tamron lens and it helped me get close without making them unduly frightened or anxious. You might get away with as little as a 300mm lens, but I personally could have have used as much focal length as I could get to help keep the images as natural as possible and throw the background out of focus.

So if you have a day or so to kill, try a new subject for your nature and wildlife photography, and visit the burrowing owls of Cape Coral.

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www.duanelipham.com
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