Hi Tweets,

I'm not subscribed currently, so pardon me if I cover old ground here.

After getting a phone call Tuesday evening (thanks, Paul!) I walked down
to Hewitt and Wetmore in Everett, just six blocks from my house. I
figured I had almost no chance of seeing the Spotted Owl that was present
earlier. I guessed as soon as it was dark and the owl would have
woken up and boogied. But I figured my chances were slightly higher if I
did go out walking than if I stayed home :)

I carried binoculars and a flashlight, the latter of which turned out to
be a joke. Let me tell you about Hewitt Ave. in Everett at 9 p.m., if
you've never been there. It's the closest Everett can come to Times
Square. Streetlights every 20 feet, abundant neon, and cars (complete
with assault stereos) cruising by. No flashlight needed.

Anyway, as you know, the owl was still there.

Here are some thoughts I have on some obvious questions.

1) what the heck is a spotted owl doing in downtown Everett?

While I'm as surprised as anybody, and I know very little about Spotted
Owls, only what I've read, but this appearance *does* fit a pattern with
the most similar owl, barred. Barreds are also definite woodland owls,
and non migratory. But the one time barreds do descend to open valleys
and cities from the wooded hills is in the winter. I remember reports of
one in downtown Portland a couple winters ago, for instance. I believe
there's good evidence that barred owls only do this in their first winter
- they disperse once they're independent of mom and dad, sometimes end up
in an odd place, but will stay there through the winter if the hunting is
good. Once spring comes, they drift back to appropriate habitat, and
never leave the home territory the rest of their life. So I wouldn't
be surprised if Spotteds do the same thing. One wonders how far he had to
disperse to end up here, and I don't know where the nearest breeding area
is, so I won't speculate.

2) How long will he stay?

Considering that (A), he was eating a starling last night, and (B) the
trees along Hewitt Ave. are home to a large starling roost (The starlings
were five trees down from the owl last night, just blackening the sycamore
they were in - I estimated between 2000 and 2500 in that one tree), he
might be around a while.

Cars always pose a threat to low-flying owls, and traffic comes through
pretty fast there. And now that the word is out, I'm sure there will be
crowds of birders there, and the attendant attention/disturbance. But it
wouldn't surprise me, if he doesn't get killed or harassed too much, if he
stuck around for weeks, maybe months.

3) Any chance it's a "sparred owl"?

I saw no sign of any plumage characters that would suggest he was anything
but a purebred spotted, but I have no previous experience with sparred or
spotted. I'm sure there will be lots of photos of this bird available.

3) how come I keep saying "Him"?

I don't know - at first look, it seemed smaller than I expected, based on
my experience with barred owls, so I thought the odds favored it being a
male. But I don't really have a clue what sex it is.

By the way, the bird is in leafless trees, in the median of the road, and
you can get superlative views from the sidewalk on either side of the
street. Although the temptation to wander out into the street directly
under him will be huge (to shoot pictures or get a look from 30 feet away
instead of 40 feet), may I suggest that you do as much viewing as possible
from the sidewalk, even if others can't resist walking under the tree?
The owl seems pretty acclimated to people (no surprise), but it would be
too bad to find out the hard way that it can't tolerate them right under
it. And also, Hewitt is a main thoroghfare through town, and cars come by
at 40mph. I see somebody standing in the road, looking through
their viewfinder and trying to focus their camera, and I can't help
thinking somebody might get hurt, or the local cops might get really
annoyed.

Chris Hill
University of Washinton AND
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu

P.S. the area including the spotted owl is in the Everett Christmas bird
count circle, and that area has not yet been assigned :)

e-mail me at the above address if you're interested in the Everett count.