FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] SNOWY OWL SUCCESS STORY 3/3/06

[Morann@xxxxxxx]

Incredible! I clocked in at Parking Garage 2 at 9:51 a.m. and went  straight 
to Level 4, the first upper level without a cover (though there is a  âhalf 
lot
â Level 5 that is all uncovered) and was able to park about 12 cars  away 
from the now-famous southwest corner. When I left Barboursville at 2:15  p.m. 
on 
Thursday, the wind was calm and it had to be in the low 70s. I drove to  
Annapolis--where I attended the meeting of the Annapolis Bird Club that night  
and 
heard Ron Rohrbaugh of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Project Director of  
the Ivory -billed Woodpecker Search Team) discuss this remarkable finding and  
saw his spectacular photos and VIDEO--and noted that the temperature was 76Â 
as 
 I approached Fredericksburg and 46Â in Waldorf, MD, about an hour or so 
north!  When I got out of my car at Dulles this morning, there were no other 
birders  there. No wonder: it was 42Â but very  windy, so much so that it was 
almost difficult to steady my binox. I had printed  out about five sheets of 
definite sightings of the snowy owl at Dulles and knew  I was looking where 
others 
had found it. I had to go back to my car and get my  leather gloves and my 
scope. Still no luck. Then I looked from in front of where  my car was parked 
to 
the northwest, where the UPS and FedEx airplanes were. I  thought I saw 
something amidst those silver mushroom-looking covers on the top  of the FedEx 
hangar 
(or whatever that building was; the one you are heading  toward as you make 
that 90-degree turn to the left to get to the parking  garage), so I walked 
toward the northwest corner of Level 4. That corner is  under cover. This was a 
little before 10:30 and I was freezing by that point,  but Iâve been after 
this 
bird for 15 years (searched each winter at Plum Island  when I lived in MA, 
and was in danger of being arrested a couple of years ago at  that federal 
prison toward Richmond!) and wasnât going to let a bit of cold stop  me. I 
moved 
my car down to that far end and got out and searched again. As  others did, I 
was checking out everything white.  
After about 2 minutes, I found it! Once I sighted it, I could see it with  my 
naked eye, not distinctly, but thatâs how close it was. He was between the  
UPS and FedEx aircraft, before the first FedEx one. Just beyond the first 
runway  (which was for private planes only), in front of what I suppose is a 
row of 
 lights (it was gray-colored, rectangular, and looked to be about 5 feet 
long)  was a rectangular patch of dirt amidst the grass. It was just sitting 
there.  Beyond it was a yellow Y3 /red lL-19R marker; further out was a yellow 
Y2/Y3  marker and on the other side of the last runway was a big 4 sign. I got 
my 
scope  and saw it even better.  
There were no cars at all at that end (4Q) so I got in my car, backed it  up 
parallel to the wall, and turned on the heater and watched the bird in  
comfort. It was a bit past 10:45 when I got in the car. I switched between 
binox  
and scope (holding it in my hand; Iâd left my car mount at home, never 
dreaming  
Iâd be watching in this luxury) and naked eye, mostly binox, till 11:35. I  
couldnât leave! The owl never moved from that spot. It turned its head  
frequently, often looking me right in the eye. I had hoped that it would walk 
or  
fly, but it was happy where it was. It was totally nonplussed by the occasional 
 
close passing of private aircraft and even a service vehicle. It would turn 
its  head at them, but didnât move. Once or twice it raised its head a bit 
higher,  but that was the only movement I observed. 
When I left, I told the attendant that Iâd seen the owl. Sheâs had  several 
folk mention the owl to her and wanted to see what the excitement was  about. 
She said she was going to go to the spot Iâd told her on her break in a  few 
minutes and try to see it. Even the road work on I-66, which caused me to go  
just 7 miles in over 45 minutes, could not squelch the joy and excitement Iâd 
 
felt in being able to see that bird. (Well, I did get impatient more than 
once.)  To think that Iâd seen photos and heard recordings of the 
ivory-billed  
woodpecker and sat before a snowy owl for an hour in less than a 24-hour period 
 
made me exceedingly happy! Now Iâm home, back at my computer, and the feeder  
birds outside and my Spanish timbrado canary inside just arenât cutting it. 
Iâ
m  sure Iâll soon take delight in them, too, but right now my head is still  
swimming! 
Ann Donaldson 
Barboursville