I returned to my Burrowing Owl nest six days after first seeing Burrowing Owlets.  It’s amazing how fast they grow!

On my first visit, I thought I saw five babies.  But they didn’t stay above ground for very long, so I only photographed three.  On this second visit, I was able to confirm that there were five owlets.  They were so cute as they peeked out of burrow through the tall grasses!

The two oldest Burrowing Owlets were the most adventurous.  They sat outside the burrow for the longest time.  The younger ones were fast to dive back into the burrow when they heard funny noises or when they saw birds flying overhead.  Then their older siblings would call them back out.

Mom and Dad sat on fenceposts near the burrow for most of the time that I was there.  Once Mom flew down to check on her little ones.  She made a nice picture standing in the green grass.

I love watching these very animated birds.  But on this particular morning, they were not very active.  I got a great sequence of the babies standing outside their burrow, yawning their heads off.  I combined the images into an animated GIF to best share their cuteness.

This animated GIF inspired me to try a timelapse on my next visit. More on that in an upcoming post…