Subject: [Tweeters] Cap. Hill Snowy photos from Sarvey
Date: Jan 20 13:47:20 2013
From: Barbara Deihl - barbdeihl at comcast.net


Kestrel Skyhawk, the Education Director for Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, took the following photos of the Capitol Hill Snowy Owl they cared for and subsequently were able to release at Volunteer Park on Dec. 8, 2012. Please use them for comparison with any photos you or anyone else has taken of Pacific NW Snowies from any of the sites, this winter, 2012-13. If you come up with what you think might be a match to a photo or 2 you have, please send the photos to Kestrel Skyhawk: <kestrel at sarveywildlife.org>, so she can have a look and see if the one(s) in your photos could be or definitely are not the Cap. Hill Snowy we are hoping to find again 'out there' this winter. Please cc me as well.

The more we have been working on this exercise, the more unsure we are getting about identifying and finding this Snowy, and I now have a better understanding of how difficult it can be to compare birds, if you don't have them either in hand or right in front of you simultaneously. This is what Bud Anderson has always told us and now I am a believer !

However, there is always a slight chance that one of us will find a possible match, so let's not give up ! Thanks to those of you who have already sent photos and videos of the Ballard Snowies and others as well, to Kestrel and me. Here are excerpts from her message to all of us :

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We had only two snowy owls that were releasable. The CH one and the one eyed one. Yes, all 7 photos are mine and are all of the CH snowy. Sometimes lighting changes the appearance but the barring stays the same. They all get case numbers. If there is more than one in an enclosure they get a colored, removable, plastic ring.

While Volunteers and Staff take photos on their own, the photos are screened if they are going to be used for public purposes. I am one of the screeners. I might not however see photos from the other screener (Suzanne). Some people just post their photos anyway without asking. I have not seen anyone's photos with a date on it. If someone did get a photo of a snowy in an outside enclosure it would have either one eye or two; two eyes means the CH snowy.

I asked Staff to look at the photos I got from the people that were sent to me and everyone said they didn't think they were of the CH owl we had. That doesn't make it true.

I look at them and can't decide. I am just not sure. It is quite possible some of the photos from out there are of the CH owl we rehabbed!

Thank you and everyone for being such great advocates for wildlife. Your diligence is both beneficial and rewarding. We are all connected.

I am glad to help, I wish I could be more certain.


Kestrel

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Kestrel's 30 years of service at Sarvey as Ed. Director, plus being a USFWS, state and SCP permit holder, has given her ample experience in recognizing distinguishing characteristics of individual birds and other wildlife. But, as you can see, she, like many who have worked with wild birds and other wild creatures, knows that is extremely difficult to be certain of an identity, without very distinctive markings or humanly-applied ones.

Thanks again to Kestrel and all the others, staff and volunteers alike, for the caring, capabilities and efforts they provide to wildlife and us, too. They help make our world a better place.

Should you wish to contribute a donation to their efforts, go to www.sarveywildlife.org or their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarvey-Wildlife-Care-Center/250767444292


link to Kestrel's C. Hill Snowy photos (on my Flickr acct.) : http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDGbMKo


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net





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