December 8, about 6:00 PM: I saw a great horned owl at Einstein Middle School
on 3rd NW, approximately NW 195th, Shoreline. I walk my dog there every night
on the track behind the school. There is a cyclone fence backed by tall fir
trees in the back yard of a house, on the western edge of the track, and a
large grassy infield. As I was walking down that side I caught a glimpse of
something large flying low overhead towards the trees. I had a weak
flashlight and shined it up in the closest tree, and at the outer branches I
found the ears first, followed by the rest of the owl looking down at me and
my dog. As we moved on with my Welsh Corgi (Shadow) off leash, the owl flew
low over him and then landed on the closest goal post support. He ( I have
no idea if it was male or female) watched Shadow and turned his body to
continue watching him as the dog looked up and saw him (he did not bark) and
then circled the pole on the ground. I became concerned that the owl might
attack. A Corgi is very low to the ground and Shadow is black with white
markings underneath, but he weighs thirty pounds and should not be owl-bait.
However, to be on the safe side, I kept talking to both dog and owl, and
snapped the leash on Shadow. We then walked around the track again; the owl
followed us to the other end and lit on the goal post support there to have
another close view of us (or so it seemed).

This is the first time I have seen an owl in the neighborhood, and would be
interested to know if there have been other sightings. I have several feeders
in my back yard a few blocks from the school and the usual winter customers
are finches; juncos; song, white crowned and house sparrows; flickers; downy
woodpeckers; varied thrushes; towhees, red-breasted nuthatches; black-capped
and chestnut-backed chickadees; robins; and a resident family of quails. The
only predator has been an occasional Coopers hawk. Occasionally there are
stellars jays, pileated woodpeckers, and band tailed pigeons.

Diane McDougall
dmcdoug at gte.net