Hi Tweets,

Adding to Dennis's response to Bud's asking for reminiscences of Snowy Owls in Washington, anyone interested might like to check the article Kelly Cassidy wrote about the big irruption winter of 1996-1997 (Washington Birds 6, December 1997). A large share of Kelly's data came from Tweeters reports. Using these and other reports she plotted locations, numbers, and dates (earliest report 20 October, Ediz Hook; latest report 15 April, near Stanwood). Highest Washington counts were 24 owls at Damon Point on 11 January, and 16 within a mile of one another between Davenport and Reardan on 18 March. Kelly also compiled data for Idaho, Oregon, and southern British Columbia. As Dennis notes, the hotspot for Snowies -- then as always -- was Boundary Bay, with peak numbers from December through mid-March and a high count of 50 birds on 13 January. There's lots more information in this paper -- recommended reading, as it takes the measure of a major irruption year on a scale with the one in 1973-1974 and will help us understand what to expect this winter if we are indeed at the threshold of a comparable event.

Hal Opperman
Medina, Washington