By Tracey Taylor
Berkeleyside
The burrowing owls that make their home at César Chávez Park on the Berkeley Marina every year are back.
Patrick Hickey, who works out in the predawn hours most mornings at the park, says he has noticed a pair of the birds there for at least the past month.
“They sit right on the edge of the path perhaps three feet away. They always seem to flank the edge of the protected corner area,” he said. “They are quite small. They look at me but I say nothing and I keep moving. I think they realize I don’t want to mess with them. Or they are dangerously blasé!”
Western burrowing owls have been designated a “species of special concern” by the state of California, as their population has been declining.