The first orange-crowned warbler of the season appeared in one of our willow
trees this afternoon. Jane Hartline and I saw it after watching a barn owl
swooping low over the fields on our neighbors’ properties. Nearly all of my
sightings of barn owls in flight have been at night, so this came as a surprise
to me. It came very close to us — twice. Once over the field of our neighbor to
the south, then over the field of our neighbor to the north. We got great
looks - I only wish I’d had my camera with me to record it. Easily my best
sighting ever of a barn owl in flight. It made me curious - given that we found
a dead barn owl in our field (to the south) a week ago, could this have been
its mate?
Mark J. Greenfield
Lost Lagoon Farm
14745 NW Gillihan Road
Sauvie Island
