Tweets,

I thought that you might be interested to know that most
of the Snowy Owls that have hung out at the "West 90" on the
Samish Flats seemed to have moved east towards the Samish River.
Various reports lately have stated the "Samish River mouth" but
really you don't see the delta where the owls are, they favor a
field upstream a bit.
To find them: from the "T" formed by Bayview/
Edison Rd and Samish Island Rd go east towards Edison. The
road turns north in about 1/4 mile then east again. Immediately
after crossing the bridge over Samish River park on the left
side of the road, near a "Port-o-let" toilet and cross to the
south side of the road. There's a dirt area here that overlooks a
large farm field; there were 9 Snowys ther today. As always
in the Samish a scope is a big help. The owls are easier to see
here than they were at the West 90 because of your elevation
advantage over the farm field and less vegetation. One of the
owls had a large, yellow plastic tag affixed to its shoulder
area with a "5" on it. A fellow there said it had been tagged by
Bud Anderson and honchos. Apparently rather than trapping the
owls they put on "grass suits" (his words) and slowly sneak up
on the owls, avoiding eye contact with them, and when close
enough they just reach out and grab 'em! Brave souls I think!
Check out the claws on the stuffed owls at the interpretive center
at Padilla Bay. I'd hate to feel the sting of those babys.

Jim Flynn
Renton, WA
bf519 at scn.org
1