Subject: [Tweeters] Re, Seattle's Snowy Owl is back on the west side of QA
Date: Sat Feb 27 15:27:31 PST 2021
From: Diane B. - dibirsner at gmail.com

Dear Elaine,


>From a selfish perspective, it warms my heart to learn that the Queen of

Queen Anne Hill continues her rooftop reign. For all kinds of reasons my
partner and best birding buddy haven't driven down to pay our respects to
her, and likely will not. But I've lived vicariously through all her
subjects in Tweeterdom, enjoying everyone's reports and anecdotes and,
earlier on, pictures.

I, too, prefer to assign her to the feminine gender, because my romantic,
magical realism side imagines she was sent by another birding friend of
mine, Eli, who lived in a retirement center at the bottom of Queen Anne
Hill until her passing in 2017.

I first met Eli on Attu in '91 and became friends during my subsequent
trips to that fantasy island for ABA listers. We stayed in touch over the
years, even shared a cabin on an epic ocean voyage to Antarctica in '95.
After Eli moved to her Queen Anne residence I would visit her. With each
trip I could tell that Alzheimer's was stealing her memories, and
eventually her love of birds and birding vanished. So in my mind Queen
Anne's snowy owl is Eli's gift, reassuring me that she didn't forget after
all.

I hope this snowy continues to heal and ultimately finds her way back to
her northern home, where she belongs. But in the meantime, what a treat to
have had her grace us with her majestic presence, Thanks, Eli!

And thank you, Elaine for sharing your updates.

Happy birding,
Diane Birsner
Bellingham
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