A Snowy Owl was seen at National Airport today between 4:30 and 5:20.
Michael Redmond had contacted me by email a couple of days ago and asked
from where I was seeing the owl at the airport. He came today when I was in
Terminal A. He found the bird at 4:30 sitting on the ground just to the
left of a large pile of soil. The pile was to the left of the construction
equipment near a runway F sign. At 5:00, the bird flew left (north) and
perched on a nearby portable sign featuring a red circle with a white line
through it. This sign was behind a yellow runway sign featuring the number
33 and an upward pointing arrow. The bird was still there at 5:20 when we
left. The portable sign was about 250 to 300 yards away, directly in front
of where we were standing. I took some photos and posted them on my
SlickPic site: http://www.slickpic.com/u/WilliamYoung?grid ;.
I saw the owl today at a closer distance and in better light than
yesterday. I am now more convinced that this is not the same Snowy Owl that
we were seeing around Christmas. When the owl perched on the sign, it
appeared to have a white bib above darker underparts. When looking at some
of Tyler Reber's Snowy Owl photos on Flickr, the Christmas owl did not
appear to have a white bib and seemed more uniformly white underneath.
While we had some really nice looks at the bird today, the hidden bummer
factor is that I am not sure that the bird could be seen from Gravelly
Point. The owl seemed to be behind the large white structure surrounded by
the red circle. When I got back to Gravelly Point in the fading light
today, I could not see that area, even when I walked toward the bike path
and tried to look back toward the river. All of this makes me wonder
whether this bird might have been here since December 20 (or even earlier)
when an owl was first seen, but in a place where nobody could see it.
While Michael and I were looking at the owl, a representative from the
airport came up and asked what we were doing. We told him about the Snowy
Owl, and the man stayed and had a friendly chat with us for about ten
minutes. He said the predatory birds who cause the biggest problem at the
airport are Ospreys. When they catch a fish, they apparently are very
focused on returning to their nests or flying to a place where they can eat
the fish, and they might fly into the path of planes. Among non-predator
species, gulls are a big problem. He also said that last winter, there were
four or five Snowy Owls at National Airport. At Logan Airport in Boston,
the number was more than a hundred. I received another email from Scott
Wiedensaul, and he said that there are places other airports that are much
safer for Snowy Owls. He said that he has handled too many dead and mangled
airport Snowy Owls to be glad to hear the news that there are owls at an
airport. Even though I have gotten a lot of joy from watching these
magnificent and beautiful birds, I have to admit that I agree with Scott.
Best
Bill Young
Arlington, VA
