While driving to Oak Harbor this morning I spotted a Northern Pygmy Owl just
a few yards off the shoulder. The highway there is mostly a ?Take No
Prisoner? kind of route where you could be killed for having the audacity to
slow down and enjoy the scenery. (Off my soap box!) It was on the east side
of the highway north of Boon Road, just past a bevy of cottages in a field
with survey lath- the owl was perched on one of the markers. It was a county
lifer for me.
Comes now a report of a Burrowing Owl (complete with pictures) from
Central Whidbey. The property owners will not allow access so I won?t post a
location. This is the 2nd one I can recall, the other being present on
Grasser?s Hill a few years ago.
I?ve also accepted the Prairie Falcon report after looking at the photos
and reviewing the write up submitted by the folks making the sighting. The
bird was around for just 1 day in the Sierra neighborhood of West Beach.
Soooo to recap: we?ve had in quick succession- Long-eared Owl, Northern
Mockingbird, Burrowing Owl, Prairie Falcon, and a Northern Pygmy Owl. No
Eskimo Curlews yet!
Steve Ellis
sellis at coup.wednet.edu
Coupeville, Wa ( where the red-flowering currant is now blooming in our
yard!)