At 10:21 AM 11/27/96 -0800, you wrote:
>> The Snowy Owl sighting map prepared by Kelly Cassidy and accessible via the
>> Web is worth a look. It is so enlightening to look at the distribution of
>> these birds and realize that these denizens of the Arctic love the city
>> life. The concentrations are in the Seattle-Tacoma area.
>
>Of course, most birders also love the city life. If something as unusual
>and obvious as a snowy owl is around, there are also a lot more non-birding
>eyes to notice the event than out in some random field or beach. So, this
>distribution might well be at least partially an artifact of the distribution
>of potential viewers.
>
>Then again, perhaps it isn't :)
>
>- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
> Nature photos, on-line guides, at http://www.xxxpdx.com/~dhogaza



Further to this discussion of snowies in urban areas, or areas of high human
densities... Perhaps these owls appear near these coastal cities since
these owls have followed the coast and once arrived have discovered that
people too like large, rodent-infested, open spaces devoid of trees !


cheers,

Don Cecile
dcecile at cln.etc.bc.ca