Birders migrate to Palouse for rare sight
Northern hawk owl makes an appearance in Moscow area
MOSCOW - When Lori Nelson heard about the northern hawk owl, she quickly devised a plan.
She dropped her son off at school Wednesday morning in Richland and headed east to the Palouse. By noon, she was standing under a tree near the Eastside Marketplace and admiring the rare bird that normally stays well north of the U.S.-Canada border.
"He has feathered feet, that is so cool," she said. "It's (a) once-in-a-lifetime bird for me. I may not get a chance to see one again."
Many avid bird-watchers keep lists of all the species they have spotted. When a rare bird is found, they spread the word so others can not only enjoy it but also add to their lists.
The rare visitor was first spotted Tuesday morning and positively identified as a hawk owl that afternoon by Terry Gray of Moscow. He filled out a rare bird report and news of it quickly made the rounds via email listserves and websites like ebird.org. Local birders from Moscow, Pullman, Lewiston soon showed up to take a look and perhaps add a bird to their life lists.
"It's kind of cool. It's amazing how fast word gets out there through the different listserves and ebird on rare bird sightings," said Gray. "It's kind of fun."
Later in the day, people from farther away started to show up. Gray said he met a carload of women from Boise who headed north as soon as they got word.
Keith Carlson of Lewiston was one of the early arrivals and said the bird didn't disappoint.
"He's a real piece of work," he said. "He just sits there and he's an experienced hunter. I saw him try to, and to catch, two mice this morning. He just sits in one or two trees and watches. All of a sudden he launches off and boom, he catches one and flies back up and eats it."
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, northern hawk owls prefer coniferous or mixed forests near open areas. They live year-round in Canada and Alaska. When food is scare during tough winters, the birds sometimes move south in large numbers, known as an irruption. Gray said there is no evidence this bird is associated with an irruption.
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Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
