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 “half lot
” 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 76° as
I approached Fredericksburg and 46° 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 42° 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 I’ve 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 wasn’t 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 that’s 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; I’d left my car mount at home, never dreaming
I’d be watching in this luxury) and naked eye, mostly binox, till 11:35. I
couldn’t 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 didn’t 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 I’d seen the owl. She’s 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 I’d 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 I’d
felt in being able to see that bird. (Well, I did get impatient more than
once.) To think that I’d 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 I’m home, back at my computer, and the feeder
birds outside and my Spanish timbrado canary inside just aren’t cutting it. I’
m sure I’ll soon take delight in them, too, but right now my head is still
swimming!
Ann Donaldson
Barboursville
