Capitol Hill Snowy - Freedom!

After weeks of anticipation the Capitol Hill Snowy Owl was released this morning! Her arrival to Volunteer Park was anticipated by a wide variety of Seattleites. 

The variety extended from Ambre's young son, Loren, who was dressed up as an owl...

(Thank you to Barbara Deihl for this very sweet photo and to see another shot (Click Here). 
...to bird watchers and photographers of both the amateur and professional variety. 

The hundreds of Seattleites at Volunteer Park respectfully left the Snowy Owl a grassy runway to freedom. 

There was a brief introduction.

Thank you to Doug Schurman for this photo and for three other in-flight photos below that display his name.

Then upon release the Snowy immediately took to the air, flying precisely down the middle of the runway.

 Thank you to Joe Sweeney for the next four photos, especially the first two which are so amazingly well balanced.

Her flight to freedom was truly majestic and beautiful. Thanks again to Doug Schurman for the next three photos.

Not surprisingly the Snowy was chased by a few of our Seattle crows. 

Still neither the people nor the crows seemed to bother the owl too much. With calm stately wing strokes she simply pulled up above the trees and disappeared to the northwest. Free at last.

The folks at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center obviously deserve tremendous credit for this rescue and rehabilitation. As this bird took to the air it looked nothing like the sad, hungry, injured bird we saw huddling above the remains of gull a few weeks ago. Today the Capitol Hill Snowy is clearly healthy, strong and ready to find her own way in the world. Thank you to Sarvey WCC, Kestral, Suzanne and all the others who give of their time and love.


As the Snowy flew to freedom the moment was truly magical. For me at least the beauty of the bird exceeded that of the most beautiful artwork. The fact that literally hundreds of people would turn out for this moment tells me there is hope for the future. Maybe we will be able to figure out how to co-exist with nature in a healthy way. The history of Union Bay has numerous examples of abusing nature and also some very special cases of restoration. Will we continue the restoration or the abuse? (If we could clean the water of Arboretum Creek enough for salmon to successfully spawn, it would be a clear indication that we have begun to learn how to co-exist with nature.)

Kestral from Sarvey Wildlife Care Center was surprised that so many people were interested in the Snowy Owl. We the people living around Union Bay have an opportunity to set a new standard for how nature is protected and nurtured within a modern, industrialized city. We have all read the thought, "Think Globally, Act Locally". Restoring Union Bay and Arboretum Creek, is a local opportunity to act. The better the bay is for fish the better it will be for birds and other wildlife as well.

In regards to photographing the Snowy Owl release I looked the wrong direction at the wrong moment and was only able to catch a couple of shots. I would love to publish more of the good photos that others took today. If you would like to see your CHS owl photos added to this post. Please send them to: 

ldhubbell@comcast.net

I will give credit to the photographer and will attempt to keep extending this post as long as with photos keep coming. This will be a new experiment so please have patience with the process.

Thank you to all who shared this magical moment. Plus, a very special thanks to Joe Sweeney and Doug Schurman for sharing their exquisite photos!

Larry

More Photos:

The following photos are from Brian Cruess and give us another angle on the Snowy. Thank you to Brian!

Thank you to Barbara Deihl for sending in this link to photos of this and another Snowy Owl release.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31069968@N08/

Barbara also sent in these photo from Caryn Schutzler. Thank you both!!

Here is another link to the story:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2012/12/08/chs-pics-snowy-owl-doesnt-leave-much-time-for-goodbye-in-volunteer-park-release


Barbara just pointed out two more links to Snowy Owl stories. Thank you! Barbara

In case you missed these...
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/Snowy-owl-released-at-Volunteer-Park-182690261.html


(Correction:  the owl was found in a residential/business area of Capitol Hill, not in Volunteer Park)

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http://www.king5.com/news/environment/snowy-owls-return-to-Western-Washington--182913211.html