The invasion of Snowy Owls continues with a bird that is finally accessible and visible in Yakima County. A wildlife biologist who works in my office saw a Snowy Owl east of Toppenish on Sunday. Three of us went to relocate it on Monday but were unsuccessful. The same bio who saw it on Sunday saw it again today and called us right away. We immediately left the office and relocated the bird south of Annahat Road which is due east of the City of Toppenish. The Snowy Owl is frequenting the birm of an irrigation ditch that runs through a bunch of tilled corn fields (about 0.5 miles south of Annahat Road) that are relatively barren. The bird appears to be an immature due to the heavy amount of black spotting. This was my first Snowy Owl in WA.

Jeff Kozma

Yakima

j c r underscore 5105 at charter dot net