Subject: [Tweeters] Damon Point
Date: Mar 5 08:59:55 2012
From: Lee Rentz - lee at leerentz.com


Saturday I walked out on Damon Point with two companions on a gray
day of occasional drizzle. We counted five Snowy Owls, so the
numbers appear to be diminishing. We found two Snowy Owl Pellets on
a log, one very fresh and containing bones of both a small mammal and
a bird. Several Snowies were flying around, but we were quite
certain that they were disturbed by Bald Eagles flying overhead and
not by the fairly scarce humans. There were some novice birdwatchers
going out specifically to see the owls; in fact, I was asked about
the owls four times as I walked back to the car. One couple was
pushing a baby stroller through the soft sand on the way to hopefully
see the owls, and I suggested that they might want to pick up and
carry the baby, since the stroller was getting bogged down in the sand.

Other observations: A Common Loon was fishing extremely close to
shore (within maybe six feet) on the bay side; we watched it jab and
catch one fish, which appeared to be a kind of sole. A large gull
was picking up Heart Cockle shells and flying perhaps 60' up in the
air, and dropping the cockles on the sand. We were surprised, but
this was enough to open these seemingly tough shells, and the gull
was successful at opening all three that it tried in this manner.

Every day at Damon Point is wonderful, even a less photogenic day
than I had hoped.

Lee Rentz
lee at leerentz.com