Edison Bird Festival

I decided to go up and check out the 1st annual Edison Bird Festival today. I saw that there would be a presentation by Denver Holt, an owl researcher and Bud Anderson, director of the Falcon Research Group and an old friend. I hadn't seen Bud in years and I was curious about Denver Holt.

On the way there, via the back roads (Fir Island, etc.) I saw several Red-tail hawks, bald eagles, and northern harriers (including a wonderfully close-up view of a silvery male), and one American kestrel. All that without even trying! And that was just the raptors. I also saw tons of snow geese, trumpeter swans, great blue herons, mallards, pintails, and wigeons.

Denver gave a great presentation on his research on snowy owls in Barrow, Alaska from 1999-2011. I learned a bunch of fascinating tidbits about them. Did you know that 3 days of heavy rains in the tundra kills the young? Or that they don't just eat lemmings- they can take an arctic fox, ducks, young geese, shorebirds, and jaegers! That's one tough owl. I also learned that no one really knows for sure why they have come down in such large numbers this year. Bud answered questions and showed a few identification slides of Skagit Flats raptors. Real slides- not those fancy-schmancy powerpoint fake slides. :) 

After the talks I decided to drive through the Samish Flats. I was quickly losing the light. I didn't get far before seeing northern harriers and red-tails again. Then I saw a smaller silhouette sitting in a short tree or tall shrub. It sat a bit forward and was lighter than the others. I pulled off the road, opened my window, and heard the strangest bark-screech. Looking through the binoculars I identified it as a short-eared owl. I couldn't figure out who it was talking to until I saw another one fly by in the distance. I've been amazed at how easy it is to see short-eared owls in the right habitat this year. I usually have to work to find them.

I took a short drive toward Samish Island and as I came back a very large raptor flew down in front of the truck. Light in the upper parts of the body, I recognized it as a rough-legged hawk. It landed in the field next to me but there was no safe place to stop and see if it caught it's dinner. I did slow down enough to get a good look at the hawk. What a treat before the lightness dimmed. A couple more red-tails on power poles and I was on my way to get some grocery shopping done.
Quite a day without even trying!