We are having an outstanding weekend here at Ocean Shores! This is our annual Winter Solstice Hatha Yoga Retreat. As with every retreat, I seem to go go go non stop until the group arrives. And then once the retreat begins, I immerse myself in this singular experience of being with this beautiful community of yogis and friends. This weekend we have been blessed with clear weather and so we bundled up and headed for Protection Point where we love to walk with the group. And that is where we saw the birders out with their fancy schmancy cameras and lenses and we knew this was no ordinary weekend at the coast. The Snowy Owls are HERE!
When we first built our house in Ocean Shores, we met an old timer, Gus, who told us that once every 7 years the great Snow Owls come from the Arctic tundra to Ocean Shores where they will hunt mice and grace our shores for a week or two! He said it was really something to see and we waited and waited and 7 years ago we saw our first Snowy Owls, two of them! Today they are back! We counted 6 of them. The birders we met said denied that they come out every 7 years. They said the owls fly to this area when they are short on lemmings (rodents) and that the food shortage can occur at any time and not necessarily every 7 years. Regardless, I will continue to trust Gus’ old time wisdom and believe that the owls come to visit every 7 years!
Here they are! Rick took these photos:
Breathtakingly stately!
Serene Snowy Owl
In the moment Snowy Owl!
Our Rare Arctic Visitors
We feel so lucky that we were able to see the owls today! What a treat! Off to teach our afternoon yoga session…
King 5 did a news coverage of the snowy owls in Ocean Shores today: http://www.king5.com/your-news/134654373.html
Amazing! ^__^
Beautiful! Thank you for posting. The first and only other time I saw one of these gorgeous creatures was several years ago, during a horseback ride in Alaska. My sister and I were slowly making our way through a dense birch forest when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Less than half a foot away on my right, level with my face was a huge snow owl that slowly turned it’s head in my direction and locked its laser-like gaze on me. Amazing and startling at the same time. Directly after which, an eagle took flight from it’s perch on my left. A blessed moment for an animal lover such as myself.
In Native American medicine, the owl is associated with clairvoyance, astral projection and magic. The Snowy Owls’ teaching in particular, is that true strength is gentle rather than intimidating, despite it’s power and skill, as reflected in both its’ hunting strategy as well as it’s retracted talons when walking. It is also associated with prophecy and spirit and so showing up in your life can indicate a message of honoring your own sense of timing when considering action. The 7-year cycle likely is due to the Snowy Owl’s ability to sense feast/famine however, may reflect the end or beginning of a cycle within your own lives. Interestingly the 7th/crown chakra is associated with intuition and spirituality ( as you know ).
Thank you SO much for posting this! It is very interesting and yes, it was such a powerful experience to watch the owls for TWO days in a row. I am so thrilled that you had the experience you describe here. Something you will carry with you forever! We are very blessed indeed! love, Fran
They are so beautiful!! thanks for sharing! I wish I were there!!
Wow! These are amazing Fran. Made my whole day to see this.
So glad you liked these!! They were absolutely amazing!!! They are about 2 feet tall and ever so beautiful! fran