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Snowy owls brightening the Washington landscape

In this photo taken Tuesday, a snowy owl responds to a nearby crow from its perch on the western side of Everett High School. Various crows swooped by trying to harass the owl, but the owl refused to move from its perch on the second story of the building. (Associated Press)
By Rich Landers richl@spokesman.com(509) 459-5508
In this photo taken Tuesday, a snowy owl responds to a nearby crow from its perch on the western side of Everett High School. Various crows swooped by trying to harass the owl, but the owl refused to move from its perch on the second story of the building. (Associated Press)
In this photo taken Tuesday, a snowy owl responds to a nearby crow from its perch on the western side of Everett High School. Various crows swooped by trying to harass the owl, but the owl refused to move from its perch on the second story of the building. (Associated Press)

BIRDWATCHING — The first snowy owls of the season are being reported in Washington as their annual winter migration from the arctic is underway.  The mostly-white owls have been spotted from Seattle to Asotin County this week, bringing back memories of last year’s “irruption” of birds that saw snowy owl sightings soar across the northern tier of the United States.

Birder David Woodall found a snowy owl in Asotin County Thursday morning off Halsey Road near a stubble field perched on a “Hunting by Permission” sigh.  When he posted the sighting, Keith Carlson pointed out that’s a hot spot for the birds each year.

“There is something magic about this location,” he said. “The first Snowy of last year’s Asotin County irruption was in this same location. On 31 March of 2007, we found a Snowy at this location.”

The Davenport area of Lincoln County also is a perennial host for snowy owls.

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Outdoors Blog." Read all stories from this blog