I celebrated the recent sightings of the following Tweets, who
responded either on- or offlist, with Snowy Owl sightings in
Stanwood: Jeremiah, Tyler, Bill and William ("Ike"). I went up there
yesterday afternoon and spent from 2:30-5:30, watching first, the
fairly static poses of 2 Snowies I found with my scope, looking north
from the Nature Conservancy turn-around at the end of Boe Rd. and
secondly, having a great session watching some active ones, later from
Thomle Rd. One of the Boe Rd. owls was on the ground and the other on
a post, both up fairly close to Hwy 532. There were only 2 hunters
there(Boe Rd. site), one siting on a stool in the field and the other
walking out on the dike with his dog - the geese hadn't come anywhere
near the field at that time - there were a few swans in the
'protected' zone.

I shared views of these two large white lumps (owls, not swans!) with
a couple of guys who didn't even know the owls were in the area -
ironically, one of the men had just seen "The Big Year" last night and
because of that, knew that a Snowy Owl was a prized find! These
fellows were out to do some general bird photography. I told them
that they might have better luck getting closer views from the dike
near the Eide Rd. parking lot - they were pretty excited! Then a
couple from the Seattle showed up hoping to see a Snowy and finally,
after one of the white shapes moved its head, were convinced they were
seeing Snowy Owls and would add it to their list. These 2 also went
up to Eide Rd.

I didn't see any of these Snowy-enthusiasts again, as I, instead of
heading also to Eide Rd., took a stop at Thomle Rd. and stayed there,
watching 2-4 then-moving owls to the west. I don't know if they were
the same 2 I'd seen earlier from Boe Rd., or if there were a couple
more that had moved toward the crest of the dike as well as out into
the field. With only one observer there (me), it was impossible to
follow everything that was happening as the sun sank lower and lower.
I attempted some digiscoped shots, some of which showed enough detail
to confirm their ID. In addition to the Snowies, there were quite a
few buteos hunting out there, mostly in silhouette against the setting
sun, a Great Blue Heron or two and one Short-eared Owl. No Northern
Harriers were flying in that area, but I had seen a couple coursing
over the beach, closer to the bay, when I was on Boe Rd. Wave after
wave of shorebirds and later, ducks, geese and swans, at times filled
the sky out over thebay, beach and sometimes, the field.

As I scanned the dike and fore-dike field near it, I would keep
finding Snowies (and buteos, too, and perhaps one harrier) perched on
treetops, posts and occasionally in the field itself. They were very
actively hunting - while focusing on one, I would watch it swivel and
bob its head, crane it's neck, bend way over and look down and fly
(yes, I even saw one do the old poop'n'fly (a technical term!). I
watched one catch a rodent, keep it on the ground awhile, seemingly
starting to eat it and then fly off with it over to the other side of
the dike. There was one juvenile bird (lots of dark streaks) who
spent a lot of time on various of the thin white posts that line the
field to the south of where I was standing (I was parked next to the
solo metal shed that is just down from the sheds at the end of the
road). The Short-eared Owl was on one of those posts, too, and stayed
put for a good 15 min. before it took off and I lost track of it.

When the main Snowy out in the field would fly from post to post or
post to ground, and then back up to a post, it would appear to be
looking at me, the way many a raptor seems to be when one is looking
at it through a scope or binocs. Once it started flying toward me,
but in looking briefly away from my scope, I lost track of it and
couldn't locate it out in the darkening field. So, I looked on the
ground for it and then gave up on that bird and switched to watching
another Snowy for awhile... until above me, from a telephone pole just
across the road from me, a huge white bird took off and flew back out
into the field. There was the Snowy I had lost track of! It had come
over and perched on the telephone pole, possibly while I took a short
break to warm up in my car - it flew after I got out of my car and
resumed my post at my scope - I had never thought to look up on
telephone poles for that 'lost' owl! What a thrill it was to have the
Snowy come so close to me! I had gotten a taste what some of you have
experienced yourselves in the field either as observers, researchers
or photographers, or combinations thereof: it often takes time (e.g.
multiple hours) and patience to get a better understanding and/or
sense of 'closeness' to wildlife.

But I was also to realize that, still, all is not yet settled, at this
Stanwood site, with respect to another aspect of the topic of
'closeness' - trespassing. Apparently, at least one of the Thomle Rd.
residents (with whom I spoke yesterday), believes and definitely
feels, that those of us bird-o-philes/photographers who haven't
"signed-in" with the property owner of the large field, before walking
over to the dike for closer views of the owls (which it turned out she
thought were just the wintering Short-eared Owls!), have been
blatantly trespassing and she is/was upset about this. It showed me
that it would pay in better goodwill with the local residents, to try
to resolve this issue. So, the next time I go up there I will be
knocking on the door of the landowner (the same person who sells
hunting licenses from his place on Boe Rd.) and talking this over with
him and, if I again encounter the Fish & Wildlife officer, I will also
talk with him about this, as his welcoming of birders to cross the
field is one of the factors here. I am sensing this to be a case
where all sides could use some more information and clarification, at
least a conversation. If any of you who have been up at the site have
more thoughts on this than you may already have shared, either on
Tweeters or with me offlist, do chime in, but probably, at this point
in the 'investigation', it would be best to keep any responses to the
offlist variety and not to post them on this list. I will likely go
up again this week and will report the outcome (in condensed form) here.

I will add, that, after this resident, at my urging, took a look
through my scope at the post-perching white beauty (Snowy), she seemed
to simmer down a bit and expressed gratitude for my showing it to
her. She also thought it a good idea to get clarification from the
landowner about his current position on people crossing his land in
order to get up on the dike. Until she saw the Snowy, she had been
unaware that the big draw this winter (since November) for so many
"Audubon" people (as she called all of us), was the arrival of these
special owls!

Since the Snowy Owls are likely to remain on or near this site until
at least early March, and since once hunting season is over after this
next weekend, the likelihood of continued and maybe increased,
interest in seeing the owls will keep this issue out there, I think it
couldn't hurt to get some settlement on this "field-crossing"
business. Thanks to Tyler Davis and others of you who have shared your
personal experiences or opinions on this matter.

As for the photos I took of some of the birds at the Stanwood sites
yesterday, I will post a link as soon as I resolve a compatibility
problem I am having with my camera card and my card reader/writer -
the photos are on the card and I can see them on my camera, but can't
get them onto my computer. I had used a different kind of card this
time, which may require a different card reader. It's always
something... !!!

Meanwhile, I highly recommend heading to the Stanwood site on a nice
day, for a possible stellar experience seeing and watching a Snowy Owl
or two. For me it was a great way to emerge from the oppressive
constrictions of the recent snow & ice episode - I am renewed!


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net