The Burrowing Owl

 About 6 months ago I was told of a location about 60 miles from me where there was a resident Burrowing Owl. I was really excited to go and see it - mainly because all the other Burrowing Owl locations I knew of were abandoned. The first was on the central grass strip on a freeway, the second set of burrows I heard about were at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve, a place I visit weekly (the only thing that outnumbers the burrows are the feral cats - the burrows are no longer inhabited), the third place I heard of apparently still has owls, but I have never seen them - at the end of a airfield.

So you can imagine the disappointment when I visited my little-known burrow 2 weeks ago and saw signs of damage... and after 2 hours of waiting, there were no signs of the owls - not even the ever present sentry, that stands guard outside.
Today I decided that I would check the place out again. I made the 60 mile journey and was again disheartened by the absence of any life. I left and spent a couple of hours in a local park. But, at lunchtime I decided to go back to the burrow and investigate further - maybe even creeping a little closer to see if there were any signs of carcasses, feathers etc.
I approached the burrow and was overjoyed to see 2 eyes watching me from behind the burrow mound.