Cape Coral Libary 12/10--Burrowing Owl

Photos: Shari Zirlin

So we went to the library in Cape Coral. Behind and on the sides of this very modern facility are open fields with many posts. We walked along the edges of the fields looking at every marker and found nothing. I had another spot in mind (the baseball fields on Pelican Blvd), but Shari suggested we get in the car and drive around the block to get different angles on the library fields. We drove out of the parking lot, turned the corner, went about half a block when Shari gasped. I looked and saw what appeared to be a coconut in the grass.

Then the coconut turned around and it had yellow eyes:

Cape Coral seems to be the Burrowing Owl capital of Florida and fields where the owls nest are marked and protected and woe be to you should walk your dog in them. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I said to Shari that this bird was practically a lifer, since the only other one we'd ever seen was almost 6 years ago on the King Ranch in Texas.