This morning (12/26) at around 11:30 I was sitting at my desk writing Christmas emails and attaching pictures of the two Snowy Owls that have been hanging out in the Sunset Hill neighborhood (five minutes from where we live), when my brain picked up on Crow excitement in the back yard area. Not the usual Coopers' Hawk alert. More of them and much more excited. I went upstairs and noticed the silk tree in the neighbors' yard covered in crows, with an occasional crow swooping down on the next rooftop.
We are on the same ridge above Shillshole Bay that the Sunset Hill owls are on, just a mile farther north. The Olympic Manor neighborhood.
I didn't see anything so I moved to the next window west, which didn't offer a better view.
Back downstairs, grabbed my camera, and started walking through the neighborhood. Whatever was on the roof moved a bit, and sure enough it was a Snowy Owl.
Since it had moved it was now visible from our kitchen and bedroom windows.

This was a rooftop along 22nd Ave NW, just north of NW 93rd Street. The best view was from 23rd Ave NW. I, and several of our neighbors watched it for a good hour before retreating to the warmth of home. The bird stayed until shortly after 1 PM, when it apparently moved a few houses north (based on crow activity).

This is definitely a different bird than the two snowies on Sunset Hill. It has much sparser barring on the upper wing coverts. Fewer markings on the crown and nape, and it shows several upper wings coverts with faded, lighter brown markings (I assume older feathers that have not been replaced yet).

Very cool to add Snowy Owl to the yard list.

Martin Muller
martinmuller at msn.com