Just a quick note.

Northern Hawk Owl is still present on Stein
Road near Blaine. It's location was pretty obvious at about
1:00 PM with a couple of parked cars but apparently I
missed the 'large' group of watchers that had been present
earlier. (A flock of scopes for comparison viewing -- where
were you Michelle?) Talking with a lady who was there
when I arrived, I learned that it had been sitting in the top of
the same tree for about an hour. Shortly after most folks
left it made a trip out to harass an immature Bald Eagle
perched across the road on the west side. The Owl had
a very direct way of flying and from a distance could be
mistaken for a crow except the wing beat is more
purposeful (not rowing). Once it got above the eagle it
made 4 or 5 steep u-shaped passes down within a couple
of feet of it. Very deliberate dives not in the class of a falcon
for speed or height but quite impressive against a much
larger bird! When it returned across the road it did it
from a height above the eagle and had a locked wing
glide the full distance except when it pitched up to land in
the very top of a 40 foot fir. Its tail is as long as shown
in NG & Sibley and while perched used it 'kestrel-like' to
help its balance. Twice it gave an 'alarm call' (probably
due to the Bald Eagle) a lower pitched (than a Red Tail)
quick ker-ker-ker-ker. There was a discussion with Randy
Knapp (?) of Lyndon using Sibley as to whether the bird was
male-female-juve. It appeared smaller (distance and view
was not the very best) than the 16" given by Sibley and we
couldn't make out any heavier barring or darker appearance
to the belly/lower breast. Adult male??

The raspberry field is about 1.2 miles north on Stein Road
and the Owl was south of the raspberry field on the east
side of the road in the tall trees just south of the first driveway.
The homeowner allowed birders into the front yard to get a
closer view and even gave rides in an old, restored Model
A/T (I didn't see it because I was late getting there).

Also, 1.1 miles south of the raspberry field there is an
interesting crow. First thought was that one of those
dirty-brown white pigeons was with a couple of other
crows. The crow is darkest at its head and gets lighter
toward the tail and primaries. The color is lighter than
medium brown and has the pinkish component of some
rock doves. No part of it is white but approaches the neck
color of swans rooting in muddy water. After a quick look
I reported it back to the owl watchers who said that it had
already been 'noticed'.

Absolutely a great Owl. Thanks for finding it. Who did??
This was not a WOGAT -- Waste Of Gas And Time!!!


Robert (Bob) Taylor
taylorrt at msn.com
Sumner (Bonney Lake), WA USA
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