There are few thing less satisfying to a birder than writing the phrase "owl
sp.", but that's
what I was prepared to do after a quick glimpse of an owl at Marymoor. I
assumed it was
a barn owl, but really hadn't seen enough. I followed it in the direction
I'd seen it going
(east across the east meadow from the nature trail), and before long it came
back.
I got a good look at it this time and confirmed my suspicions, and in a
couple of seconds
I had a second barn owl in the same binocular view, apparently harassing the
first over
a fresh kill -- the first appeared after turning to have something in its
talons -- and letting
out a loud screech in the process. Interestingly, neither bird looked pale
enough to be a
male; there was some light to work with from the soccer field about 500
yards away. I
heard the screech again at close range about 45 minutes later, but never got
another look.

If they were both female, that raises a couple of questions. Do
first-winter barn owls
associate with their parents? If not, might there be more than one pair of
owls breeding
in or around the park?

The other good sighting of the day was a singing varied thrush about halfway
up the slope
overlooking Lake Sammamish about a half mile southeast of the park.

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA