Dear Emily and Tweeters,

As far as I know, the Snowy Owl on the Samish Flats has not been seen by any birders.

I spent much of this morning looking for it. Since the report was from a home located near the mouth of the Samish River, I took quite a bit of time scoping along the edge of Samish Bay, starting just around the corner from the Edison liquor store, then to the pullouts east of West Edison, then from West Edison itself, then from the road west of there, and finally from Alice Bay.

There are quite a few homes out there near the mouth of the river, and I don't know which one was the one with the owl. In any case, the view to the bay is blocked by the dike, the houses, and various trees out there.

This owl will probably have to move on if many birders are to see it-- assuming that most birders do not belong to the gun clubs that control much of the shoreline out there, or close friends who live out there and can allow access. Just about all the old spots where birders used to be allowed to view the southeast corner of Samish Bay are now posted with "no trespassing" signs.

There were some fun birds to look at today, though. At Samish Island Public Beach were four or five Pacific Loons, in close. A "good" Western Gull was there, too--a tough bird in Skagit County.

I saw two Short-eared Owls while I was seeking the Snowy, and saw another one at the West Ninety, plus two more at North Fork Access on Fir Island. Also at North Fork Access was a Western Meadowlark. It was whisper-singing with its bill closed. An American Bittern flew right in front of a whole group of nature lovers and photographers.

At Hayton Preserve was a Greater Yellowlegs.

At the Game Range was a Northern Shrike, a flock of Bushtits, and lots of Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. The sparrow-watching at the Game Range is a pitiful remnant of what it was just a year ago. About the only goodly flock I found was right near the headquarters parking area. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers are hanging around there, but I could not find any American Robins or Cedar Waxwings there today (1-03-09).

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?


--- stollea at u.washington.edu <stollea at u.washington.edu> schrieb am So, 3.1.2010:

> Von: stollea at u.washington.edu <stollea at u.washington.edu>
> Betreff: [Tweeters] snowy owl at Samish Bay?
> An: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Datum: Sonntag, 3. Januar 2010, 22:21
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Just wondering if anyone else has seen the snowy owl at
> Samish Bay more recently? I was thinking of going up there
> today possibly but wanted to check in first.
>
> Thanks,
> Emily Stoll
> stollea at u.washington.edu
> Seattle, WA
>
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> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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>

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