I'm betting that this time, my SNOWless visit to Thomle Rd for one
rainless hour yesterday evening does prophesy what will happen to
anyone who looks for a Snowy Owl there in the next months, at least.
But I would love to be shown to be wrong!

I tried an outing yesterday, and it partially succeeded - headed out
around 2, when then sun had come out and hope had sprung eternal. A
friend had called and echoed my own plans - she said she and her
husband were going to head up to the Skagit area, taking their chances
with occasional rain outbursts. They wanted to try to find the Short-
eared Owl I had photographed eating a vole, and get some photos of
their own, and just, well, get out and do SOMETHING outside. I, too
felt it was worth a wet drive, just for those momentary warm, bright
seconds, especially if there were ANY birds out and about. They
wanted to see the special Shortear and I wanted to see if any Snowy
Owls would still be hanging around near Stanwood. Well, the sun
rarely appeared again the rest of the afternoon and continual squalls
greeted us both as we drove our separate cars up in that direction.
They never saw the Shortear, did watch a harrier get blown about in
the wind and ended up starting to drive home before I had even made it
up there - I got caught in rain and tediously-slow traffic (10 mph for
an hour near Everett!). We ended up meeting for dinner at a place
near the Tulalip Casino after our original plans to meet at the newly-
opened Cabela's, fell through when we found that they haven't yet
opened! Dinner was good and we all were glad we had tried for a
little outdoor fun and had taken our chances.

After dinner, my friends went home to Burien, but I decided that,
since I was already very close to Stanwood, I would zip up there and
check for the Snowy Owls. It had stopped raining and was only 6:45
p.m. What the hey! So, with dark clouds hanging all over the sky and
intermittent spritzes of rain, I made my way to Thomle Rd, where I saw
no Snowy, but did see one Short-eared Owl, a few Bald Eagles, one
Northern Harrier, a distant stream of Snow Geese heading out to the
bay, and, best of all, a brilliant, changing but enduring SUNSET !
Worth the extra drive :-)

For 2 sort-of bird images and many sky specials, go to: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzknBTx
to the set called "Light at the End of the Tunnel"

Keep the faith. The sun will shine again - why, look, there it is
right now!


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net