The Snowy Owl was seen at National Airport from 4:55 this afternoon to
5:10. The owl's appearance tonight was marked by quality rather than
quantity. The bird was first seen perched on an orange and white structure
at the south end of the airfield. The six of us who were watching the owl
saw it fly closer and perch on a pole near the white triangular structure.
Once between the time when the owl flew from this pole and returned, it
hovered while it was facing us. I had never seen a Snowy Owl hover, and
watching through my telescope as a large snow white bird was doing this was
breathtaking. The owl appeared to be using the strong wind to hold itself
up in midair like a kestrel. We could see the dazzling white primaries and
secondaries and the slightly darker underwing coverts that looked like
white feathers in shadow. Eventually, the bird flew back behind a fence at
the south end of the airfield and was out of view. Rather than waiting in
the cold for it to reappear, we all left while there was still some light
in the sky.
Today is the first anniversary of the rainy Sunday when Frank Hawkins put
the following post on the MD-DC list serve: "This evening, between 4.30 pm
and dusk, I was treated to the great spectacle of two snowy owls hunting
along the Potomac between National Airport, Hains Point and Bolling
Airforce Base. One was perched on a pole at National Airport, then flew
across the river to a yellow crane with an orange-and-white checkered flag
on it, just south of the main Bolling Base buildings. It then flew south
along the river bank and encountered another snowy owl, and a brief aerial
dogfight ensued. One of the owls flew off downstream, and the other flew
out to the middle of the Potomac where it perched on a green buoy (no 11).
After a few minutes it took off again and chased a Lesser Scaup for a
hundred yards or so in flight before the scaup dived into the water. The
owl then swooped low over a group of Scaup, causing them to dive in a
panicked fashion. It then perched up on the yellow crane, where I left it,
given that it was basically dark by this time. Fascinating that this
behaviour seems to mimic that shown by the radio-tracked owls that were
perching on buoys off the New Jersey coast, presumably also to hunt
sea-duck. I presume that the owls will continue to hunt in this area given
the number of duck on the river at the moment."
Last year, January 6 was rainier and more miserable than the 5th. On the
7th, the weather was clear, but the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees
with a 20 mph wind. I went to Gravelly Point on the 7th and took what I
believe were the first photographs of a Snowy Owl at the airport. The
photographs were taken from far away, but the American Bird Conservancy
used one of them in a press release about Snowy Owls at the airport:
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/140109.html ;.
Thanks to Frank Hawkins for setting all of this activity in motion last
winter and to Will McPhail and Tom Hardman for starting the activity this
year.
Best
Bill Young
Arlington, VA
