Subject: Snowy Owl Sightings
Date: Apr 3 18:21:51 1997
From: MarkJHoust at aol.com - MarkJHoust at aol.com


Here are some late snowy owl sightings from Lincoln County:

3-15: One adult male on Bagdad Rd southeast of Grand Coulee.

3-18: Sixteen within a radius of one mile between Davenport and Reardan.
This is from Jim Acton, who has been studying snowy's in this area for about
25 years now. He has the impression that in mid Marsh they often stage in
this area before they move farther north. On 3-22 he couldn't find any in
this area.

4-1: Six together between Creston and Wilbur. Several days earlier there
were 8. Through the winter 2 were regularly seen about 8 miles south of
Wilbur, and another 2 about 6 miles west of Wilbur.

Adults of both sexes were commonly seen through the winter in these areas.
Another sign that the owls had plenty of prey is the significant rodent
damage to lawns and crops. Many winter wheat fields are bare for about
twenty feet around the edges as the mice and voles worked their way in from
the roads and fencerows. I have never seen this degree of activity before.

Mark Houston
Creston, WA