Subject: [Tweeters] (EDITED) Snowy Owls
Date: Jan 25 17:14:49 2012
From: Marc Hoffman - tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com


Hi Michele,

The two roads I know of where Snowies have been seen regularly in
Stanwood are Thomle Road and Edie Road (there's also Big Ditch but I
don't know how to find it). You can find both roads on Google Maps. I
am not sure if a Dep't. of Fish and Wildlife permit is required to
park on Edie Road (it definitely is not required for Thomle Road).
It's an annual permit that you can purchase at various sporting
stores for $35. But you may not need it. I hope someone else on this
list will chime in. If you drive as far south on Edie Road as
possible, and park in the lot there, you can continue walking south
and you will see several cleared paths to your left that allow you to
get through the brambles and look out from the top of the dike that
you're walking beside. If you go on a weekend you're almost sure to
see other birders there, perhaps some with scopes. You will be
looking across the Stillaguamish River. Owls have been seen on both
sides of the river. Those on the near side could be 100-150 feet from
the dike, at most.

Thomle road is more residential. Most of the way out to where it ends
at a private farm, there's a large barn-like structure on the right.
There's another dike running behind that, from which you can look
northwest across the fields and scan for the owls. They may be quite
distant and hard to spot. It's also worth driving to the last
structure on your left (before the road is gated) and again scanning
to the left. Thomle is maybe a 10-minute drive from Edie, but the
lookout points on both are within a half mile of each other, just
across the river.

Good luck.

Marc Hoffman
Kirkland, WA

At 04:52 PM 1/25/2012, Michele Wassell wrote:
>Hello,
>...In regards to the sighting report at Stanwood, Stanwood seems to
>be a residential area if I am understanding correctly. Where do you
>park, walk to, etc to see them? Are they typically along the waters
>edge area? I do not know a whole lot about Snowy Owls, but am
>learning / reading more about them. I see on a map that there is
>quite a bit of water in that area. And how do I go about getting
>permission, or is there an area I can walk to without trespassing on
>private property?