The Worm Snowy owls, mis-sent missives, 120 years in 120 seconds

Who? Who?: Manson orchardist Roger Odorizzi was cruising down his driveway about a month ago and saw it immediately — a rare snowy owl just sitting there enjoying the mild winter weather.

“There he was, minding his own business, sitting on a couple of stacked telephone poles,” said Odorizzi. “I drove back to the house to grab my camera, and he was still there when I returned. Unexpected and really beautiful.”

Odorizzi said he’s lived at the property for 31 years and has never been visited before by a snowy owl. But he knew that, through fall and winter, the Arctic bird has been spotted at various locations around the state — Skagit County, Grays Harbor and other Pacific Coast locations.

The birds are circumpolar — meaning they fly around extreme northern regions — and usually live in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other sites north of Alaska’s Brooks Range. In their spare time, they visit Scandinavia, Russia and Greenland.

But occasionally they head south, most likely in search of food (lemmings and other rodents). The Seattle Times reported two weeks ago that in past years the bird has been spotted at various points around eastern Washington, including Bridgeport, Moses Lake and the Waterville Plateau.

Since fall, snowies have spread across much of the northern U.S. in great numbers, says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Many of the birds stand nearly 2 feet tall, so they’re hard to miss.

“I sure couldn’t have missed it,” said Odorizzi. “It flew from the telephone poles over to a neighbor’s fence and landed on a post. Then it just sat there, looking around, taking it easy.”

This wasn’t the only odd bird sighting this year for Odorizzi. Last summer, he spotted a turkey vulture, the first he’s seen in the area. “That was a real surprise, too,” he said.

Speaking of wildlife: Okanogan County Commissioners last week sent a letter to state Sen. Brian Hatfield expressing their opposition to the appointment of Omak’s Jay Kehne to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission. Kehne works for Conservation Northwest, and that’s a conflict of interest, county commissioners say.

Only problem is, they sent their letter to the wrong committee chair, according to Hatfield.

He’s chairman of the Senate’s Agriculture, Water and Rural Development Committee. They should have sent it to Sen. Kevin Ranker, chair of the Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee, on which Sen. Bob Morton — who represents much of Okanogan County — is ranking minority member.

The Associated Press didn’t bother checking either, reporting last weekend that Hatfield’s committee “has the power to remove Kehne from his new position.”

The issue is likely moot anyway, Hatfield says. What the committee actually has the power to do is ask the full Senate to confirm Fish and Wildlife Commissioners.

But according to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office, eight of the nine sitting commissioners haven’t been confirmed.

“Every Fish and Wildlife Commissioner is contentious from one side or another,” Hatfield says.

If they’re not confirmed, it just means they serve at the pleasure of the governor. Which also means come next January, Washington’s new governor — whether it’s Jay Inslee or Rob McKenna — can almost completely replace the current Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Fish or ferrous: Old car parts turn into art for a cause in Twisp Jan. 27 at the Fish Car Art exhibit and silent auction. The program by Methow Arts and the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation stage this event, with cars salvaged from the rivers, repurposed into fish-oriented sculpture and sold to the highest bidder.

Proceeds from the sales go toward the Community Trails and Public Art project, an effort to develop pathways through the Twisp Pond public area. Get in on the auction action at Confluence Gallery and Art Center, starting at 6 p.m.

Remember www.hen?: The Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center boils down the town’s legacy into a YouTube video, “Wenatchee’s History in 2 Minutes” — which is actually more like two minutes and 15 seconds, but when it comes to 120-plus years, who’s counting? View it at the museum’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/wenatcheemuseum.