I once again spent Saturday and Sunday photographing Fir Island and the
West 90. The biggest, but not only, highlight was being able to get
images of a snowy owl at the North Fork Access on Sunday morning.

Other really great sightings were an American Bittern in flight on
Saturday in the same location at the North Fork Access where I saw the
snowy on Sunday. It landed almost on top of a second bittern and for a
few minutes I caught sightings of them in the tall grass - I think they
must have hunkered down into the grass as I didn't see them fly away or
leave.

On Sunday at the West 90 I watched a shrike chase an unidentified
songbird for at least a full minute. The chase ended when the songbird
dove into the grasses and escaped the shrike. The cuts and bobs, weaves
and dives the songbird made in its defense were amazing to watch and
several times I thought it was a goner but it somehow kept escaping the
grasp of the shrike.

On Saturday at the West 90 I had a mature Cooper's Hawk on the wire just
east of the parking area at dusk.

Peregrines seem to be in short supply this year but short eared owls,
rough legged hawks, and harriers are quite plentiful.

Both days at the West 90, in the late afternoon, I had several harriers
and short eared owls on the wing, some of them doing flybys at close
proximity. The most fun is watching the short eareds fight each other
in the sky while airborne - a couple of times they actually locked
talons and did short tumbles. One of these days I'll be successful and
capture that tumble with the camera!

Finally, there were 2 snowy owls present at Hayton Preserve out amongst
the driftwood on Sunday. The fog would sometimes obscure them.

If anyone is interested in seeing some of the images, I have them on my
website here: http://www.wisenaturephotos.com/NEW%2012-11-05.htm

Cathy Wise
cathy.wise at cingular.com
Snohomish, WA