Sunset 4:46 PM, Snowy Owl 5:05 PM. Patience paid off!

I arrived at Elliott Island Rd about 11:30 this morning and ended up cooling 
my heels a lot longer than I had anticipated. People came and went and for a 
bit, I went too. Zipped over to Blackwater to watch eagles for a short while 
but quickly felt like I'd probably get back to Elliott Island Rd only to 
have someone tell me I'd just missed the owl. So I returned. More people 
came and went with no apparent luck. At sunset, I started watching for 
Short-eared Owls and saw nothing but the very nice hovering Rough-legged 
Hawk and a few harriers. One last pass down the section of the road where 
the owl had been frequenting and still no owl. Getting quite dark now and as 
I drove to leave there it was--barely visible on the sixth telephone pole 
past the yellow house/maintenance bldg (before you get to the Christmas 
decorations and flag). Was sort of unhappy that all of the camera stuff I'd 
dragged along was for naught, especially since it had been such a gloriously 
sunny day. Snapped off a few photos anyway and one turned out not too bad 
considering the only light was from my flash. The owl didn't seem to mind 
and I left it sitting quietly on the pole at 5:20 PM. If you want to see a 
Snowy Owl in the dark: http://nestbox.com/snowy_owl.htm

Happy Holidays everyone!

Arlene Ripley
Calvert County, MD
http://nestbox.com
piwa99 at comcast dot net