Near the huge sewage plant that treats San Jose’s wastewater at the southeast tip of the San Francisco Bay, wildlife biologist Phillip Higgins peers through binoculars. … In less than a minute, he spots what he is looking for — a small head with large yellow eyes is poking out of a buried pipe. This is a burrowing owl, less than a foot tall and weighing just ounces. … Sandwiched between office buildings and the sewage plant, this 200-acre slice of land is home to some of the last burrowing owls in the Bay Area. They were once common, but urbanization has paved over most of their grassland habitat. In October, the state designated the owls as a candidate for protection under the California Endangered Species Act. But while burrowing owls are disappearing throughout the state, a collaboration between biologists and the City of San Jose has helped them maintain a talon hold on this spot. The scientists are now working to protect the few that remain in the Bay Area and reintroduce them to better habitats farther south. It is part of an effort led by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency that seeks to bring the birds back from the brink.