New Year's Snowy Owl

Over the New Years weekend, the B and B team travelled to the exotic locale—by Texas standards—of Seattle, Washington to visit a good friend. For one of us, it was the first visit ever to the Pacific Northwest, and for the other (me), it was the second visit, and the first in over seventeen years.

Seattle in the middle of winter may not be many people's idea of a vacation destination. Its reputation for persistent clouds and rain is definitely deserved, if our four day visit was any indication. Yet, as we discovered via some hurried internet research before our trip, the Puget Sound region in winter is a tremendous area for watching birds. The Skagit River valley, about an hour north of town, particularly caught our attention, especially since it appears to be a hotspot for Bald Eagles at this time of year—and Bald Eagles are one of my very few 'must see' species that I had never before seen.

So our sightseeing agenda was set. Birding it would be, and Skagit River valley birding if at all possible. We fully anticipated seeing lots of brand new birds for us. The only problem would be figuring out what they were.

On our first full day, we stayed close to our base in southern Snohomish County, several miles north of Seattle proper. Taking the recommendations of an internet site I found the day before we left, we hit a marsh along the Puget Sound coast in the heart of the town of Edmonds, followed by a 300-plus-acre wildlife refuge along the Snohomish River a few miles inland.

The next day, the first of 2006, dawned pleasant, which means it was cloudy and chilly, but not raining. We headed out late morning and set our sights north, on the Skagit River valley. Using the same list of recommendations, we decided to try out the Hayton Reserve in the Skagit Wildlife Area, in the river's delta, near the shores of Puget Sound. Our website reference contained a brief description of the area, how to get there, and what species are typically seen, but other than that, we had little idea what to expect.

So it was quite dramatic for us, as we approached the location of the refuge, to see huge flocks swarming in the distance, low off the ground. As we pulled up, we realized the flocks were even bigger than we had suspected, as most of the birds, white and off-white waterfowl, were staying on the ground. We half expected swans of some kind, which we had not seen the previous day but had heard were prevalent, but these were clearly snow geese—thousands and thousands of snow geese.

We parked in the refuge's modest dirt lot and got out of the car, into a brutal, gusty, cold wind and a cacophony of cackling geese. The hordes of birds were just across a fence in a flat, marshy expanse. In the background, the Cascade foothills rose up into the clouds.

After watching and listening to the geese's show for a few minutes, we decided to head up a small trail at the other end of the parking lot, away from the huge flock, but towards the shore. We didn't know what was out there, but we figured we'd probably see something cool.

After a short distance, alongside an tiny inlet of Puget Sound, the trail ended at a fence with a "No entry beyond this point" sign. We saw small flocks of shorebirds and some other isolated birds zipping around but were unable to even try to identify them. We also saw a raptor flying low along the shoreline, apparently harassing more distant flocks of shorebirds, but were also not able to identify it due to a combination of our lack of raptor knowledge, bad lighting, and trying to hold binoculars steady with frozen hands in the brutal wind. (In retrospect, based on our later raptor sightings in the area and on the single field mark I saw—I think it may have been a Northern Harrier.)

So we resigned ourselves to enjoying the scenery with our hands in our pockets, with our attention occasionally being drawn back to the snow goose flock erupting in dramatic chatter as large numbers took flight at once. Not far away, the sound of occasional hunter's gunfire broke through the wind.

After a few minutes, a pair of birders joined us at the end of the trail, spotting scope in hand. One asked me, "Have you seen the Snowy Owl?" All I could offer was a blank look and a confused shrug. I didn't recall Snowy Owl being on the list of birds we could expect to see, and of course had certainly not spotted one on my own. Apparently a friend of theirs had recently seen one near this very spot. Cool, I thought—never seen one of those before. But the thought of attempting to find it ourselves in the conditions—equipped with mere 8x42 binoculars and no scope—did not even occur to us. I did pull my hands out of my pockets long enough to make a few scans of the driftwood-covered landscape between us and the shore, though.

Soon, a couple more pairs of birders, with their own scopes, joined us. They all commenced their search for the Snowy Owl. Amazingly, after about ten minutes, they actually found one, hunkered down quietly on a prominent log roughly 200 feet away from us in the direction of the shoreline. Once I knew where it was, I was surprised we hadn't all found it sooner, as its color and location did not exactly make it invisible. But it was not moving and the jumble of debris between us and the water was a complicated visual scene.

One of our fellow birders was kind enough to allow us prolonged views through his high-quality scope, so we got premium views of this beautiful creature. Its head was bright white, and it rotated it around from side to side, inspecting its environs. The rest of it was much more mottled black and white, so this was apparently either a female or an immature owl. During one of her looks through the scope, the other member of the B and B team noted that this owl had a fuzzy furball of some kind right next to him, apparently a dead creature waiting to be consumed.

As can be gathered by the attention this bird received from a group of well-equipped birders, Snowy Owls in Washington state are not an everyday occurrence. As I have since learned, Snowy Owls are normally denizens of the Arctic tundra, where they breed far, far north of Puget Sound. In winter, they disperse and move south, but generally not as far south as the Seattle area. This year, for the first time in nine years, is different.

Snowy owls are being spotted throughout the region, apparently making one of their rare migrations south.

...

It's uncommon for snowy owls to migrate this far south in the winter, but every few years, [raptor keeper for the Woodland Park Zoo, Gretchen] Albrecht said, the lemming population in northern Alaska dips and the raptors head south in search of food.

"In those years you get owls in odd places," Albrecht said. "This is pretty far south, the far end of their winter movement."

...

Denver Holt, a snowy owl researcher who divides his time between Charlo, Mont., and Barrow, Alaska, said he's received reports of owl sightings this year from the Great Lakes, the Pacific Northwest and Montana.

So we were lucky in many ways to be able to see a Snowy Owl. In particular, we were fortunate to run into the group of informed birders, without whom it seems extremely unlikely we would have been able to take advantage of this luck of timing and spot this majestic white fowl.

If you live in the northern part of this country, you too may be able to spot a Snowy Owl this winter.

As to whether we found any Bald Eagles or not—that story will have to wait for another installment.

Comments

[Meg]

You're killin' me, Peter! Did you see a Bald Eagle or not?

[Peter]

Hi Megan! I can't be giving away the next installment ahead of time, can I? Did you enjoy the Snowy Owl story at least?

[Pamela]

So very lucky to see a snowy owl! I have reports of them all around me in eastern Ontario and I still haven't seen one.

[GrrlScientist]

i am so happy to hear that you spent some time in my other beloved home; seattle! your story reminds me of one snowy morning about nine years ago (was it that long ago?!) when i was a zoology grad student. after the class that i was TAing ended, i left the building and discovered a snowy owl perched atop a gargoyle on the facade of Savery Hall, overlooking the quad. unfortunately, this so happened to be one of the few days that i did not bring my binoculars to campus with me, so i ran back to the zoology building, looking to grab a pair of binoculars from someone else. i ended up grabbing Gordon Orians, who wanted to see the bird also, and we both ran through the snow so we could look at this wonderful owl, and ended up talking with the growing crowd of students, professors, birders and reporters.

we returned to our offices after several hours, frozen, happy and pleased that we had also made a good start to our own friendship in the process.

GrrlScientist

[Arch Bryant]

Peter:

I just reread this. Did I tell you how much I enjoyed it, even though I am not a birder?

[Peter]

Very cool. Thanks, Dad.

[mark dacosta]

hello just a test to see if works

[mark dacosta]

good hello everyone i hope we all are having a HAPPY NEW YEAR i have the best story to tell you people im 24 a turaus and have seen the most powerfull thing some one could ever see and yes i had no camrea :( , but this was the best moment that brout this new year to exilince/ yesterday at like 3.am jan/2007 i have seen a SNOW OWL , i was walking for qute a bit in the cold i live in winnipeg ,,i was walking ,,it snowed hard ,i was cold i was walking for about3 hours and my foot was aboul to handle it it has been a long time sinec i been aboul to walk so far with my foot that has been reconstucted , i was lucky to still have my foot,my accidind was about 7 years ago,BUT ON WITH THE STORY,i was about 13blocks away walking on the sid of the road cause the sidwalks were coverd with like 7 feet of snow cause it snow hard that new years eve heading home 01/01/2007 i was cold a bit but still feeling good allmost home walking on the road i see carlights almost hit me the car i say, than they stop look like there going to get out and beat me up but i tak off my ear phones and walk fast to there car and they take off,wow close incouter i say,they look young and look like they wanted to start something but i scard them ,hehe,so i keep walking and looking up in the sky smelling the air and keep enjoying this painless walk im having so wounderfull i say i love the outdoor crisp air such a lovelyfeeling ,i was afrad of the cold but god helped me, still walking and just loving every min. my mp3 player dies my hands start to become stiffer ,,4 blocks away im almost home and nothing going to stop me from enjoying this cold weather ,, i see a car is stuck ,, and what i think is a person that does not know this person that in strying to help this person stuck but shoveling around this car i think this person was a person who lived out front where this guy was stuck, in my mind i was like im just going to pass scine i almost got beat up and scine i was cold , but i was thinking mabey this person can give me a ride home if i help, so i ask how are you guys you need help and the guy with the shovle was like umm yeah i think we need your help ,,and in my head i knew he did cause lol he was jumping up and down with his bum trying to put wight to the tires to get him out,,is a good idea but usaly dosint work,,so he is like yeah we need your help and i drop my bag that had my tobbacco and roling machine and tubes, i rubb my hands and say i dont know how good my hands will wokr cause iwalked from shurburen, hes like wow thats far,,it made me feel good to know i was aboul to still do that,so me and guy grip guys frount bumper and with 1 easy push the car gets unstuck , but wait do you think i asked him for a ride? no i didint i felt that i helped him just to help him,and not to help him just for a ride , it made me feel good just to help him and ask for no ride ,no he did not ask. 6 more blocks to go and the cold is getting more hard on my hands ,at lest i hade strechy gloves i roll a smoke wyle walking ,try to grip my tin and hold my plastic has hard my hands were cold , but i pulled it together wyle walking it was amazing finisd rolling i light up my smoke and walk some more 4blocks away foot feeling good still wow,,so i look up at the sky again and say in my head boy this is aswome ,,this worl everything ,this air that moon the stars such a clear night sky ,i ture to go down a ally 3blocks away from home at the end of the ally i look up again to the sky than poof,, i see a SNOWY OWL ,so white, wings so big gliding down to land on a big/tall pine tree, but WAIT in the moment of him gliding in the air when it turnd sorta to land i seen a SHOOTING STAR right above it when its wing were spread before it landed it was remarkabul a shooting star and the same time a snowy owl in one quick veiw ,,,the owl landed on the tree and i walked quicky to the corner of the street but tryed not to take my eyes off the tree top when i reached the corner i took my hood off and just looked i saw him just sitting there,i looked in just aawww, than a turck coming from behind me was rolling by and stoped and looked at me ,and took off he was probuly thinking i was on some good drugs but i looked back up he was still there it was just me and him so i started to hoooot ,,hoooo hooooo hoooooo and then he just swooped with out flaping , and swooped away in the night,, i think that was the most,,,THE MOST impressive new years i have ever had,, thank for your time im reading my story and have a happey new year,god bless us all,,,what was my wish,i cant say cus it wont come true if i say :P

[mark dacosta]

oh yah the snowy owl looked at me to// I LIVE IN WINNIPEG/MANITOBA/EAST KILDONEn

[Melissa]

I live in South Seattle and have never seen an owl in the city. So imagine my surprise when I was driving home from work (around 6:30PM) to have something white fly in front of my car swoop up and land on the telephone wires in front of me. At first I thought it was a seagul (it was a white blur) because of the coloring, but once it landed on the wires it stood and stared in my direction and it was a beautiful owl. I came online to do a little more research about owls and found it was a snowy owl, very rare in our area. Thanks for sharing this info.

[Peter]

Melissa, Thanks for your story. That must have been quite a thrill to see a Snowy Owl in those circumstances. It is also interesting to hear that they are back in the Seattle area two winters in a row.

[Michelle Charlton]

Hi there! My son is doing a grade 4 project on endangered animals. We are trying to find out the exact amount of snow owls still living today. Any suggestions ? We are also looking for a list of groups that are preserving these endangered species.
Thanks for your help.
Michelle