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Posted by Elena on 17:28:48 06/17/04
In Reply to: Re: Danger for Barry Owls posted by Rock Jetty
I just checked out the owl burrows at Barry about two hours ago. There is indeed construction going on, and there is a specific area that is fenced off for construction containing one of the three owl burrows. The other two burrows are just outside the fenced area by a large gate which, I'm assuming, will be the main gate for construction vehicles and people to go in and out of. This gate is no more than 15 feet or so from the two burrows on the outside of the fence. I have been observing these guys for a long time, and having this happen is devastating, but fortunately, I was able to spot all of the eight owls that call those burrows home. As far as I can tell, there is no damage that has been done physically to any of the burrows, so I'm not sure what Alex saw when he went that would lead him to believe that, but perhaps they have moved/fixed some things since he went. At any rate, the one owl that used to always be at the burrow within the construction area was there, although I saw him/her only briefly. And, thankfully, the very productive family of eight (five of them being juveniles from this year's clutch) was accounted for, although they were not at their burrows, but rather perched in two nearby small oaks off the path near the burrows, the parents in one tree, and the young in another. As far as I could tell, it looks like they have not actually gone into the burrow for at least a few days, enough to let the grass grow over the entrance to an extent, although a passing maintenance man said that he had seen them perching on the logs surrounding the burrows just this morning. So far, little damage has been done other than the placement of the fence and a large birt pile not too far from the burrow within the fenced area. The owls do seem to be unhappy, as I rarely saw any of them perched in the trees before this, and certainly not all of them for over an hour. Not to mention they stayed in the trees when I downpour went through, when I think they would normally have gone in the burrows.
I contacted the number that RJ posted, and managed to file a report, hopefully someone will be going to investigate if not this evening, than tomorrow. I told them to call me so I could help the officer find the burrow, so I will keep everyone posted in the matter, hopefully we can save this troop of eight, they have been so productive, and without home there, in the middle of miami shores, they will have quite a way to go and a lot of digging to do to make a home somewhere else.
The burrows are located just behind the elementary school located at the corner of NW 2nd AVE and NW 115th ST in Miami Shores, behind the large building labelled "Neta and ? Kolasa Hall", in case anyone out there wants to take a look at these guys before we possibly lose them.
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