Continuing from my previous post about our great Burrowing Owl photo hunt with a lot more cuteness and a little more information about the place where they live.
Cape Coral is the next City to our Florida home in North Fort Myers. It is the largest City in Southwest Florida – actually larger in population than Fort Myers, and larger in area than Miami– but almost unknown out of this area — almost as if it were a stepchild of its more well-known neighbor.
One of the reasons may be because Cape Coral is a new City. It was created in 1958 by two brothers, speculators from Baltimore, who came to the area looking for land to develop. Eventually, Leonard and Jack Rosen and those who followed them changed the peninsula once known as Redfish Point, into the largest master-planned community in the United States. It was incorporated as a city in 1970. It is noted for it's canals, with over 400 miles of canals and riverfront. (More history here.)
While all this development was taking place, fortunately some people noticed that the whole area was home to a lot of Florida burrowing owls. (The largest population of this species in the world.) An organization called "Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife" has been instrumental in making sure that these birds are protected. You can go to this link for more information.
Even though these owls actually live year round in Cape Coral, all owls are considered migratory birds and are protected by Federal and State statutes. It is illegal to harm them in any way.
The nesting sites are fenced off with stakes and string. The stakes make great places for the owls to perch. When the female has eggs and tiny chicks in the burrow, the male will stand on one for hours guarding his family.
We found this one on a stake in front of a fence.
Just a couple more pictures of these cuties perched and watching.
LINKING TO: SIGNS SIGNS ; GOOD FENCES; and SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B'BIRDING.
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