Perhaps in a bid to counterbalance the relentless activities of humankind upon the Earth, Mother Nature intervened just as time was running out for the Blue Ridge burrowing owls.  The finale was a spectacular culmination of a rather innocuous series of events that when I now look back appear to have been set in motion long before the onset of January 30^th, which is a day that would spark jubilation and a sigh of relief.  Whether you choose to believe it was preordained by nature or was simply a chain of coincidences, the outcome remains the same.

Throughout the month of January Antioch remained under fog, obscured by rain clouds, and could generally be characterized by many as “gloomy” weather.  I for one love the mystique of fog and rain, but I digress.  Interspersed throughout the darkened skies were 3 to 4 days of sunshine and a few off and on light showers that were followed by a weeklong storm that practically ended the first month of 2010.  And with the weather conditions less than amenable and owl conservation absconding with my free time, the yard work had entered a hiatus.  But as the storm passed it left a healthy legacy of weeds behind to adorn the perimeter of my home.  Since procrastination could not be tolerated during the sun’s weekend appearance, I systematically removed weeds from the saturated soil and just under an hour had managed to pull a record number I am ashamed to say.  And as I pulled our now full yard waste container around the corner of our lot, the habit I developed over the last year and a half of glancing towards the Blue Ridge property manifested itself as usual.

Upon the hill I saw an individual that was most definitely out of range for proper identification.  I immediately thought that the consultants, Monk & Associates, were on the scene scouting for owls and installing more one-way eviction doors.  I made a few more steps towards the garage but curiosity prevailed and I just had to know.  As I hustled down the sidewalk I was greeted by a burrowing owl that I had identified and confirmed its presence on the property in a new burrow the day before.  As a side note this owl had been evicted at least 2 times previously from other burrows.  As I approached the chain link fence an individual was peering through binoculars and sweeping the landscape.  And to my surprise there was a second person that was dressed in the uniform of the CDFG!

My attempts to catch their attention failed and my ability to approach directly was impeded by the fence. The only way to ensure a meeting was to run back and get my car, which is just what I did.  And in yet another instance of perfect timing, I found the pair just as they were exiting the site and putting gear back into their truck.  And so began a conversation that lasted an hour…

A warden and a senior environmental scientist had been dispatched to the Blue Ridge development to document the presence of any owls, squirrel bait/fumigants, and one-way eviction doors.  But much to my surprise evidence had been removed from the bulk of the property on Friday, including the tractor (hmmm, odd is it not?).  Thus, the CDFG was leaving under the impression that there were no owls on the property and that there were no eviction doors. Shocked by their findings or lack thereof, I blurted out that I just saw an owl and numerous eviction doors.  I was promptly asked if I could show them the location of an owl as they would like to document a presence.  I replied that I could not show them because I did not want the location relayed to those performing the eviction.  However, I soon discovered that their intentions were admirable and that they needed to document the presence of an owl in order to halt further evictions on the property. Eureka, an owl at last!  The senior environmental scientist confirmed the presence of the burrowing owl.  At 4:43pm on January 30^th, the California Department of Fish & Game informed Monk & Associates:

“THEREFORE to avoid violation of DFG Code Sect. 3503.5, during a Burrowing Owl nesting season, before 1st February 2010 you shall remove ALL one-way doors from Burrowing Owl burrows and you DO NOT collapse any remaining Burrowing Owl burrows.”

So here’s the breakdown:

• 1) A wet month produces rampant weed growth
• 2) A weeklong rainstorm causes evictions to halt during 3^rd week of January
• 3) The fog lifts and the sun shines providing crystal clear views
• 4) Perfect Saturday weather forces me outdoors to pull weeds on the same day CDFG visits site
• 5) I finish pulling weeds and enter a position at the same time the scientist maneuvers into my line of sight 1500 feet away (thanks Google Maps)
• 6) I catch CDFG just as they were leaving and find out they were going to report zero owl observations
• 7) I noted the location of one of the remaining owls on Friday and was able to aid CDFG in documenting presence.

And on February 1^st, all eviction doors were removed from the property because of a chain of events set in motion by the forces of nature.

*My Legal Disclaimer/Note:  CDFG did not give me permission to enter the property and locations of owls and eviction doors were visible without a need for trespassing.

Tags: Antioch Burrowing Owls, blue ridge, burrowing owl eviction, burrowing owls, Kiper Homes

This entry was posted by Scott on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 8:19 am and is filed under Human Threats, Owls, Urban sprawl, Wildlife management, birds, conservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.