A group of birders rang in the new year by watching the Snowy Owl put on
one of its most extended performances. The bird was first seen at 4:45 in
the location Rob Young described. It was on a pole with two white lights on
the side and a red light on top -- from the picnic area, the pole was
behind the edge of the area where the rip-rap on the bank starts, near the
triangular white structure surrounded by the circle of red objects. The owl
flew but eventually returned to the same perch. Then the bird flew again
and landed on the top of the triangular structure, where it perched for a
considerable time. It was still up there at 5:25, which was the time when
we first spotted the owl yesterday. This structure is a considerable
distance from where we were watching the bird. I took a couple of distant
photos, which I posted on my SlickPic site at:
http://www.slickpic.com/u/WilliamYoung?grid . They should be the first
folder. When there was no daylight left, the bird started to come closer to
where we were standing. It flew near the river and perched on the orange
T-shaped structure, which tonight had its lights lit up. Then the owl flew
over the river and doubled back right in front of us. The bird eventually
landed on the windsock near the north end of the airport where some of us
had watched it for four consecutive evenings starting on Christmas Day.
Dave Ledwith and I went over to look at the bird from along the bike path,
and we were within a hundred yards of it. We left at 6 after having gotten
multiple good views of the bird over the previous 75 minutes.
I am not sure if the Park Police close Gravelly Point during the night --
there are wooden barricades near the entrance. It is possible that the owl
wanders into the area around the parking lot later in the evening. The owl
might also come to the area around the athletic fields -- it came pretty
close to that area last night.
For anyone who wants to try to see the owl, the weather forecast for
tomorrow is favorable, but Saturday looks as if it might be a washout.
Best
Bill Young
Arlington, VA
