Or even up to National Airport, where a Snowy Owl was seen about a decade ago, for a minimum of several days if memory holds...


On Dec 14, 2011, at 11:50 AM, James Tyler Bell wrote:

> I saw this posted on the VA-Birds list. Since most of the Potomac River is Maryland, it's possible that this bird, assuming it's a Snowy Owl, could head across to the Maryland shore to PG county.
>  
> 
> Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:18:33 -0500
> From: "Bethany Lee" <>
> Subject: [Va-bird] Possible Snowy Owl Sighting Mt Vernon, Alexandria
> To: <>
> Message-ID: <01d601ccb9cc$017789e0$04669da0$@com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Good afternoon,
> 
> I hesitate to even post this as I haven't noticed any other Snowy Owl
> sightings in this region yet this season, but as I dabble in birdwatching
> while training for marathons along the Potomac River most mornings, I
> stopped running to observe a large brilliantly white bird about 100' plus
> high in a tree just northwest of the intersection of Vernon View Drive and
> George Washington Parkway this morning around 0930.  I watched him for about
> 5 minutes but couldn't get an absolutely clear view of him.  I attempted to
> return about 15 minutes later with binoculars in hand to verify that is
> indeed what I and a handful of other bird-gawkers observed but unfortunately
> our feathered friend didn't linger on the tree long enough for us to
> positively identify him.  We drove around the loop at Ft Hunt (about 1/2
> mile to the west behind where we observed the bird) in the off chance that
> he flew to a neighboring tree to perch for a bit but no luck.  It's quite
> possible that the bird could have been a Northern Goshawk but he was so
> brilliantly white I'm leaning more towards the Snowy Owl.  On my return trip
> with the binoculars, we also observed a Black Vulture in a tree along the Mt
> Vernon Trail about 3/4 mile north of the Mt Vernon traffic circle, rather
> near the bridge over Little Hunting Creek.  I've only seen a couple of those
> along this part of the trail despite running this stretch fairly regularly
> since August.
> 
> Happy birding!
> 
> Bethany Lee
> Alexandria, VA
> Tyler Bell
> 
> California, Maryland
> 
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