[Bristol-Birds] Fwd: WNC Snowy Owl
- From: Susan Hubley <shubley@xxxxxxx>
- To: bristol-birds <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2013 18:09:15 -0500
FYI - thought some birders may be interested in chasing this one!
Susan Hubley
Rogersville, Hawkins County
> From: "GRIGGS, JERRY" <griggs@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: December 7, 2013 at 2:21:59 PM EST
> To: "carolinabirds@xxxxxxxx" <carolinabirds@xxxxxxxx>
> Subject: WNC Snowy Owl
>
> This morning’s Transylvania County Bird Club outing was in the Calvert area.
> We met at Cherryfield Baptist Church, just east of Rosman Hwy (US 64) between
> Brevard and Rosman, NC. A local resident pulled over and informed us of a
> Snowy Owl that was nearby. We got there around 9:30am, and people were still
> observing it two hours later, when I left. I take Carolinabirds in digest
> mode, but I found online that Simon Thompson already reported this Snowy Owl
> a couple of hours ago. At the risk of some unintended duplication, let me
> provide some details, in case no one else has yet.
>
> The location is less than one mile south along Calvert Rd., soon after Kant
> Hardly Farm Rd. (seriously), in pastureland on the east (downhill) side
> directly across from a small private road, O Rourke Beich Trail. You should
> be able to pull off and park parallel to the road, and to see the bird from
> there. Please be respectful of the homeowners; if asked, they may allow you
> to walk down closer. I observed the owl from about 200 yards (or to be more
> scientific, about 182.88 m. :) )
>
> The homeowner there said they noticed the bird on a barn roof and in a tree
> last evening, and she heard it calling overnight (I have to check what that
> sounds like!). We found it on a barn roof. It flew down to the pasture,
> then up onto a fence gate, and then to the edge of the horse pasture on a
> pile of branches (as far as I could tell), where it remained the last hour I
> was there. It did not seem to be bothered at all by the two nearby horses.
> This is an area of farmland (pastures and fields) in the French Broad River
> Valley.
>
> This lifer for me was picture perfect, bright white with small black checks
> on its torso and on the top of its head. I took many photos, and will submit
> the best to the CBC site, unless folks with better equipment send better
> ones, as I expect they will.
>
> The weather is in flux here. It was warm, around 64 degrees last evening,
> with drizzle. There was rain overnight, and by 9am it was cloudy, breezy,
> and 42 degrees. It became partly sunny, warming to 55 degrees by midday.
>
> Not as sensational, but still fun, was that earlier, in ponds formed by
> recent rains in the fields across from Cherryfield Church, we spotted a
> Green-winged Teal (with 24 Mallards), and in the nearby mud a flock of more
> than 100 Kildeers.
>
> Jerry Griggs j@xxxxxx
> Columbia, SC, and Brevard, NC
>
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