Hi Tweets,

My birding partner and I, followed by Paul Woodcock of Whatcom County
in his truck, arrived at the site of the NORTHERN HAWK OWL just about
9 a.m. today. We passed Wayne Weber on the road. He was coming out
as we were going in. He had not yet seen the bird and was going to
return a little later. I pulled over at six-tenths of a mile, got
out a played the recording. The owl immediately flew across the road
and to the uphill side. I walked up into the burn and relocated it.
Paul arrived with his scope and then helped my birding partner get up
to where we were. The bird was not skittish at all. It moved around
during the several hours we watched it, both from the road and from
Meadows Campground. It appeared to be casually looking for prey but
did not appear to be disturbed by our presence. When Ron McCluskey
arrived around 10 a.m., there were then four of us fairly close to
where it was perched by the road, with no sign of disturbance.
Several of us shared a picnic brunch in the campground, watching a
number of raptors that included one Northern Goshawk, a Red-tailed
Hawk, several Cooper's Hawks and a possible Sharpie. Then the hawk
owl moved into the area of the astronomy pad in Meadows Campground
and we had more good looks and photo opportunities. When we left
Road 500 around noon, the owl was again perched near the road and
Wayne was glued to his binoculars. We left him and the owl in peace
and checked out other nearby areas.

As did Ron, we had Mountain Chickadees but no sign of Boreals. We
also had Clark's Nutcracker, Gray Jay, and Steller's Jay, along with
many Common Ravens. As we descended the Hart's Pass Road, we
encountered a large flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers with a few
juvenile White-crowned Sparrows and a probable Warbling Vireo. A
change in weather may cause the hawk owl to relocate but anyone going
for it on Wednesday should have great prospects. The road is very
passable for passenger vehicles. Traffic on the road was light today.

Carol Riddell
Edmonds