Subject: another Snowy Owl (Lewis county)
Date: Nov 30 19:13:45 1996
From: Kelley Ward - ward at localaccess.com


Hi Tweeters:

I know this is getting a little old, but these birds are AWESOME!!!
Kelley and I decided to search for a Snowy Owl near the wetlands around the
Centralia Mining Company today, and we were successful!! There was one
rather white (that is, not heavily barred with gray), very cooperative SNOWY
OWL in the grassy field just beyond the mine.

To reach the location of the owl, take I-5 into Centralia, Exit 81 Mellen
St. Hwy. 507. From the freeway, go easterly (toward town) on Hwy. 507 (if
coming from the north, make a left). About 1.0 miles from I-5, turn left
(north) on Tower Ave.(this is still Hwy 507). Continue north on Hwy. 507
for another 3.5 miles, just across a bridge over the Skookumchuk River, to
Big Hanaford Road. Turn right (east) onto Big Hanaford Road for 5.2 miles.
(See DeLorme p. 46 C2.) This will take you directly into the Centralia
Mining Company Mine and Steam Plant area. (This route is fairly well
marked. Watch for "Hwy.507" and "Centralia Steam Plant" signs.) Continue
beyond the main industrial building and just past the "shipping and
receiving" sign there is a large grassy field on the left. This is where we
initially saw the owl. After a few minutes, it flew back toward some of the
smaller buildings and perched there for a while.

The bird was initially seen in the middle of the grassy field about 4:15pm.
After we watched it for about 5 minutes, it then flew to a perch on a pole
about 5 or 6 feet off the ground, nearer to some of the buildings. We
observed it for about 5 more minutes, when it flew out over the field about
25 yards or so, then "pounced" onto the ground, where it stayed for 2 - 3
minutes. We couldn't see whether it actually had any prey, but it then
returned to the same perch without anything in it's talons. After watching
it intensely for the next 15 minutes or so, the light conditions were
getting quite poor, and just as we were leaving, it flew up on top of a
nearby telephone pole.

I don't have access to Lewis county records, but I would think this is a
pretty good county bird for some of you. It is a great bird for me
anywhere!!! Anybody out there know more about this?

By the way, we also saw 2 pairs of MALLARD, 14 pairs BUFFLEHEAD, 1 GREAT
BLUE HERON, 30 or so AMERICAN WIGEON, and ~200 CANADA GEESE. Also many deer
in and around the Mine buildings.

David Ward
Centralia, WA
ward at localaccess.com