West Seattle snowbirds: ‘Snowy’ owl; hummingbird; pre-snow eagles

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

How perfect: A “snowy” owl, shared by Greta, who explains: “My five-year-old daughter spotted this beautiful owl on a tree on our backyard this morning. Our house backs up to Fauntleroy Park.” (Commenters on FB think it might actually be a barred owl.) A bit to the east, along the Upper Fauntleroy/Gatewood line, this hummingbird photo just came in from 40th/Thistle (map):

And those go nicely with a pre-snow photo we received over the weekend from Kolus Photo (bald eagles look somewhat snow-capped, after all):

Accompanying that photo, this explanation: “The resident bald eagle pair are now rather active in Lincoln Park and may be observed hunting water fowl along the shoreline or squirrels in the park if you are lucky enough to witness it.” The photo was taken Saturday in the “central” park area.

JanS November 22, 2010 (2:25 pm)

love the mustache on the owl :)

kathy November 22, 2010 (2:50 pm)

my daughter was running early this morning and as she turned around on beach drive at lowman park – an owl dive bombed her 5 – 6 times – flying by her shoulder. The owl also tried to pull her hat off by the ball on top!

bsmomma November 22, 2010 (2:53 pm)

That is such a cool pic of the owl!

Lang November 22, 2010 (3:25 pm)

Nice! That’s a barred owl, btw.

coffee November 22, 2010 (3:48 pm)

On Bird Note, which airs daily on NPR at 8:58 AM a few weeks ago, they did a story on the humming bird that stays here all winter. How cool to get a picture of it! And that owl is amazing! We have a wonderful place to live.

Barb Wuerth November 22, 2010 (4:02 pm)

Beautiful picture of Owl. While it is a barred owl, snowy owls do show up in the northwest. I saw one in Ocean Shores last year and they are unmistakeable in their white coats.

Josh November 22, 2010 (4:13 pm)

That hummingbird eats at our feeder at 30th & Thistle, too. I recognize his roundness/

Alison November 22, 2010 (9:42 pm)

I love the owl photo!

Ex-Westwood Resident November 22, 2010 (9:51 pm)

If you have Hummingbird feeders out remember to bring them in for the night. Put them in the sink so they can melt without making a mess on the counter (speaking from expirience here :-/).
Then put them back up in the morning so those little guys can eat.

Ellen Blackstone November 23, 2010 (8:55 am)

Here’s the story from BirdNote about the Anna’s Hummingbird. http://birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=386
Keep your feeders filled — and thawed! 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Boil water, then stir in sugar, and boil for another minute or so. No red dye, please! Table sugar only, not honey.