A Snowy Owl was seen and photographed on a fence in a yard of a private
residence in South Arlington on the morning of Sunday, November 29. It flew
off when it was mobbed by crows. I have been in contact with the homeowner
who said that the owl might have been reponsible for flattening a bird
feeder pole in the yard. The homeowner said that the feeder was attached to
a double shepherd's hook pole that would have required considerable force
to be knocked to the ground the way it was. Dave Ledwith and I were at
National Airport today from about 3:40 to 5:10, because we thought the owl
might be more likely to hunt at the airport than in a yard toward the end
of the daylight hours, but we did not see it. The homeowner kindly has
given me permission to reprint the photo her daughter took of the Snowy Owl
with her cell phone. It can be accessed at my SlickPic site:
http://www.slickpic.com/users/WilliamYoung/albums/SnowyOwlArlington112915/?wallpaper#11591570
Last year, the fist Snowy Owl at National was spotted on December 20 by
Will McPhail and Tom Hardman during the Christmas Bird Count. I am the
coordinator for that subsector, and the only previous times a Snowy Owl had
been seen on the DC Christmas Count were in 1945 and 1949. If my memory
does not fail me, the first Snowy Owls at National Airport two winters ago
were seen from Hains Point in early January. However, there was talk before
the 2013 Christmas Count about a sighting at the airport, but we were not
able to obtain additional information. Last winter when I was looking for
the owls from inside National Airport in the area between the old and new
terminals, an airport official came up to me and asked what I was doing. He
knew a lot about the owls and said there had been quite a number of them in
2013 -- I believe he said there were five or six.
The first few days of this week are supposed to be rainy and overcast, so I
do not know how easy it might be to look for the owl in such conditions.
The weather is supposed to improve after the middle of the week. I hope
that the bird is relocated and will stick around for this year's Christmas
Count on December 19th.
Best,
Bill Young
Arlington, VA
