>> How many people on the tweeters list have: (1) ever seen a snowy owl in
>> the wild (if so from how close?)


Years ago - afternoon in summer, 1970's, driving on I-90, west of Cle Elum,
before the Elk something-or-other Road turnoff. It was apparently sleeping
in one of the trees just a few feet above the elk fence - 20 feet of road
shoulder ? It looked HUGE to me ..... white against the dark green
needles/reddish tree trunks .....

Second time - after midnight - cold, may have been Seattle's "winter",
1980's, driving on HWY 509 north of the Pacific Hiway exit. Bright
cobaltblue sky, low-hanging, great silvery moon, wind shoving bundles of
feathery clouds past at a rapid rate ..... then ..... flap ..... flap .....
flap ..... snowy owl drifts past a few feet above the windshield - every
feather totally visible in the moonlight ..... I can still see it ..... (and
I know you can't hear owls flap - that is just a description of the pace of
the wingbeats)