Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/258790
orning in the high grasslands of the South Okanagan. A sharp April wind is blowing high cirrus clouds across the pale sky, but in the distance, darker clouds threaten rain. Ahead of me, a straggling group of people plods down a track and out into a huge grassy basin, edged with ponderosa pines and sagebrush. Some carry small pet carriers, shrouded with white cloths – precious bundles of hope – each containing a pair of burrowing owls, one of Canada's most endan- gered owl species. Bred in captivity in B.C., the owls are being taken to protected wilderness burrows to start new communities. It wasn't so very long ago that these high meadows, and others like them across southern B.C., were home to scores of burrowing owls, the only type of these birds to nest under- ground in tunnels once excavated by badgers and gophers. But badgers are now extremely rare and the wilderness grasslands they once inhabited are dis- appearing fast, swallowed up by vine- yards, farms, golf courses and suburbs. It also wasn't so long ago that some ranchers used the little birds as shoot- ing targets, waiting until the owls popped out of their holes to see what was going on. Burrowing owls are small, not much more than 20 centimetres long, and weigh around 170 grams. Trim and neat, they have barred feathering, round heads (no ear tufts) and big yel- low staring eyes. But they haven't been seen much in B.C. since the early 1980s, when they were declared extir- pated (that is, vanished). On this chilly spring day, the string of walkers converges at one of the new nesting sites on a hillside bluff, and put down their burdens. Grouped here are four of 25 artificial burrows that are spread throughout this grassy bowl. Since there are no longer natural tun- nels for the owls to nest in, these bur- rows are all dug by hand, lined with large flexible plastic tubing to prevent cave-ins, and sealed by what look like lidded planters. Lauren Meads, South Okanagan site coordinator for the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of B.C., throws down her rucksack and stoops to check one of the tunnels made last fall. Volunteers, mostly from the Oliver area, gather round as Meads explains the procedure. Today, four pairs of owls will be settled here. Meads opens a carrier and fishes out one of the tiny owls. It really is a comical character, particularly in this undignified position, held feet up for inspection. It glares in outrage as Meads strokes its little pink belly. A green and black band on one leg marks it as born in B.C.; the other leg bears a U.S. Fish & Wildlife tag to iden- tify it during migration south. One of the volunteers records the data on the tags and Meads carefully places the owl into the burrow to await its mate. When both birds are housed, a porta- ble mesh cage is placed over top of the open tunnel entrance. This is known as a "soft release," a gentle introduc- tion to freedom. The tent will stay up for 10 days, providing protection from predators and allowing the owls to get used to their new surroundings. I like to think of this arrangement as con- nubial containment, a sort of trial marriage. Food is provided in the hon- eymoon suite: one of the ice packs holds zip-lock bags of frozen mice and baby chicks purchased from poultry breeders and I throw a handful of each into the nest entrance. We continue to the next group of burrows some distance away. Burrows not used for nesting become safe houses, bolt holes for when predators approach – and hopefully, will be attractive to any wild burrowing owls, or any born and bred in B.C. last year and returning home. During a field check this March, one pair of wild owls and a lone female were seen flying W e s t W o r l d >> s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 23 M (opposite page) lauren Meads prepares to place a burrowing owl into its nest. (here) Adult owls stand only 20 cm tall, even including their long legs. p22-26_Burrowing Owl.indd 23 14-01-29 10:32 AM