Hey tweets, I was sitting on my camp stool, scanning hordes of Black-
capped Chickadees with my binoculars when my eyes slid past a big,
lumpy object. It took a second or two to realize I had just scanned by
a BARRED OWL, perched right out in the open. With a jolt that lifted
me at least a couple inches off my stool (I may now be the world's
record-holder in the sitting stool jump), I swung the binoculars back
and found myself eye to eye with the owl. An eery experience, as
Barred Owls show no pupil in dim light: their eyes look like two
burning coals set in a feathery furnace.

In a few more minutes, a Steller's Jay showed up and began yelling its
fool head off, hopping here and there around the owl. I rolled my
eyes; the owl would have rolled its eyes too, if it could have.
Unfortunately, owls can't move their eyes. So instead the owl gave a
heave and fluffed out all its feathers in a gusty sigh. The jay was
like the neighborhood yappy dog that won't shut up just as you're
trying to get to sleep. Highly annoying.

Thinking that the owl was getting pestered enough, I folded up my camp
stool and walked away. Turns out *I* was the one agitating the jay,
not the owl! The jay followed me all the way back to the car, scolding
me with every step.

Also on view today: a little male Merlin perched in the Triple Tree in
Hunn Meadow East; Orange-crowned Warblers coming through; a pair of
Ring-necked Ducks on Main Pond; a lingering Cinnamon Teal also on Main
Pond; not a single Canada Goose anywhere (must be a first); American
Wigeons back in force; Virginia Rails still calling from several
locations; and the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that has been hanging
around is slowly coming to look more adult. It was clutching a rodent
in its talons as it flew into the dense foliage of the cottonwoods of
Yesler Swamp. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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