Usually I go out of my way to stay out of areas of major duck/goose
hunting, for my own mental and physical health and because often, the
birds I am hoping to see, also seem to clear out of these areas.
Well, yesterday, I unwittingly found myself at the epicenter of (but
not for long) a huge (at least to me) hunting event, happening along
Boe Rd., near Stanwood around 2:30 p.m. Hunters lined up on one side
and 1000+ Snow Geese in a field on the other side of the road. The
hunter groups (1-4 men and 1-2 dogs in each) seemed equidistant apart
and were in a field in which hunting was allowed - the geese were in a
"No Hunting" field, with the Fish&Game guy very visibly placed on the
same side (sometimes in his truck, but often out and talking to
various hunters). The hunters only got off their seats and phones
when more groups of geese were coming towards and over them while
heading to the 'Goose field' to join the others. Then a volley of
gunshots would erupt, duck bodies fell to the ground and dogs raced
out to retrieve them and brought them back to their masters, who then
dropped them on the ground near their chairs, and waited for the next
wave of geese to appear. I was told that each hunter can "take" 3
geese/day and that the goose-hunting season ends on the last weekend
of this month.

I've never witnessed this sort of thing before, though it probably is
a usual occurrence. I found it 'interesting' and a bit disturbing,
but definitely looked forward to leaving the area to go do my own
'hunting' of Snowy Owls and other raptors. The rest of the afternoon
was a lot more pleasant, and I was able to get back into my usual bird-
watching mode and have a few more 'interesting' moments of discovery
and social interaction in the field.

From Boe Rd. I went off to find Big Ditch, a couple of miles north of
Stanwood. There, I went up up the dike with my scope and looked out
(WAY out) and got excited when I saw a Snowy Owl fly to a perch on a
driftwood log. I got it in my scope and then watched it "from a safe
distance" (!) and shared views with 4 other folks who were there to
see Snowies and/or the sunset. After about 5-7 min., the owl, likely
in response to the strong wind, hopped off the log and onto the
ground, going in and out of view in the grass near that log, through
sunset.

Saw a lot of northern Harriers flying from west to east, behind the
one Snowy Owl that I spotted and just before the sun did it's setting
thing, 2 small falcons zipped overhead and on out toward the bay -
MERLINS !!! That, plus the striking sunset and the splendid moon on
its rise in the east, made for a fine ending to my Big Ditch sojourn.
It was 5:30 when I left the parking lot and headed back down to check
out both Eide and Thomle Rds. for possible owl sightings. I did flush
a Short-eared Owl (with my car lights) on Eide Rd and 2 smaller, light-
colored 'somethings' on Thomle.

Typical "Deihl" photos of this outing can be seen at my Flickr
site: www.flickr.com/photos/deihl


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net

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