The Loma Prietan
December 2001/January 2002
Face to Face With Burrowing Owls at Mission College
by Rebecca Block
There’s a slight wind this morning as I walk, the brown grass crunching under my feet. I try to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the life that surrounds me.
When I first came to Mission College I saw the little birds as I used to walk the path up to school. They seemed to be used to human activity and were not disturbed by my presence. They didn’t even seem to mind the buildings that surrounded them. I didn’t know what to make of them at first and I started to ask around the college if anyone knew anything about them.
I was told that they have made their home at Mission College and have been living here for quite awhile, mostly back in the field behind the tennis courts.
I knew right away that they were a type of owl but they were different from most of the owls I had learned about. For one thing they weren’t as big as most the owls I had seen. They stand around nine inches tall on these long, skinny legs. What also surprised me was to see them in broad daylight and coming out of holes in the ground. I was used to looking for owls up in the sky at night or in a barn out in the country. To see them coming out of the ground was, to say the least, unexpected.
Although not completely accurate, I suppose it’s why the early settlers dubbed this prairie bird the “burrowing owl.”
I carefully make my way back towards the field behind the college hoping to catch a glimpse of a burrowing owl. I notice something among the tall grasses that I recognize. I stop immediately and try not to make a sound. I cautiously move closer to see if I can get a better look.
It’s no use. I’ve been spotted. I watch, disappointed, as two jack rabbits bound away in the opposite direction. I walk back to the field where I had spotted the owl burrows and sit down trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. My patience is soon rewarded as I observe a ground squirrel poke his head cautiously out from his burrow. I stare at the squirrel and try not to move as more squirrels start to come out and look around. In the distance I can hear the call of the burrowing owl. The ground squirrels stand erect at the sound and seem to be listening very intently. I’m not an expert on owl calls, but it seems to me that those owls are trying to tell the squirrels about the intruder trespassing in their field.
I can take a hint and the owl doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop until I leave.
As I get up and make my way back to the college, I think about what a great asset we have here in the middle of Silicon Valley. Our own little prairie amidst the skyscrapers and busy highways. I realize how important it is for us to save this area, being one of the few places like it left here in the valley. A place, not only for us to enjoy but for our future generations also.
Rebecca Block is a Graphic and Multimedia Design student at Mission College, Santa Clara.
For more information on the
owls at Mission College, see
the following websites:
www.ecohelp.4mg.com/BOwls/ and missioncollege.org/gen_info/owls.html.
For further information, contact
the Environmental Awareness Association at Mission College
at mission_eaa@yahoo.com