Burrowing Owl Artificial Burrow Sites at Maricopa Agricultural Center

Wild At Heart Burrowing Owl Release Site Near St. George, Utah in AZ Strip

May 2005

The photo above shows members of the Red Cliffs Audubon chapter from St. George, Utah and Scot Franklin from BLM, installing artificial burrows at the release site on BLM land in the Arizona Strip South of St. George.

BLM was instrumental in obtaining permission to use this site and Scot coordinated finding and organizing the volunteers to install the burrows, construct the release tent, and bring the Wild At Heart-supplied mice to the owls every day for a month.

Volunteers roll out the flexible tubing with the red cliffs scenery in the background.

Here the Sun Cor backhoe and operator cover the burrow materials installed by the volunteers. Sun Cor donated the backhoe time and operator for hole excavation and backfill. This donation cuts the cost of burrow construction by 50%. The volunteers pitched in with the backhoe operator to complete excavation and construction of 16 burrows in the same day. Thanks for the extra effort!

Scot Franklin with BLM and Red Cliffs Audubon members work on the plastic frame to support the release tent fabric.

When the release tent was removed we took the opportunity to inspect the burrows to determine the breeding status of the owls. One of the burrows contained 8 eggs. When checked the next day it contained 9 eggs. The following link will allow you to download the video that shows the burrow camera and what the burrow camera records when it is placed in one of the inspection tubes. This is a 60 second video, 5.4 mb in size, and will stream almost immediately using a cable modem. A DSL broadband connection would take several minutes to download. If you use a dial-up connection you should wait until we put up a shorter version of the video.

az_strip_owl_eggs

If you view the video you will see how the owls have added materialso the eggs are not resting on the dirt floor of the burrow. In addition the camera is positioned so you can see the two entrances to the burrow cavity in addition to the eggs.

Remember, Wild At Heart could not do these kinds of projects without your financial support. Also, Please contact Wild At Heart if you would like to volunteer to help with rescue, transport, or facility activities. They can be reached at:

480-595-5047

For more information about this project, and to find out if your property could be used as a release site, use your email to contact:

b i r d i n f o @ m i r r o r - p o l e . c o m.

You will need to type it in manually and eliminate the spaces.

To Wild At Heart Home

Update 9/2012

	Volunteers roll out the flexible tubing with the red cliffs scenery in the background.
	Here the Sun Cor backhoe and operator cover the burrow materials installed by the volunteers. Sun Cor donated the backhoe time and operator for hole excavation and backfill. This donation cuts the cost of burrow construction by 50%. The volunteers pitched in with the backhoe operator to complete excavation and construction of 16 burrows in the same day. Thanks for the extra effort!
	Scot Franklin with BLM and Red Cliffs Audubon members work on the plastic frame to support the release tent fabric.

When the release tent was removed we took the opportunity to inspect the burrows to determine the breeding status of the owls. One of the burrows contained 8 eggs. When checked the next day it contained 9 eggs. The following link will allow you to download the video that shows the burrow camera and what the burrow camera records when it is placed in one of the inspection tubes. This is a 60 second video, 5.4 mb in size, and will stream almost immediately using a cable modem. A DSL broadband connection would take several minutes to download. If you use a dial-up connection you should wait until we put up a shorter version of the video. az_strip_owl_eggs	If you view the video you will see how the owls have added materialso the eggs are not resting on the dirt floor of the burrow. In addition the camera is positioned so you can see the two entrances to the burrow cavity in addition to the eggs.