Our oldest son, David, who lives in the Boston area is visiting and we took him to the Skagit area hoping to see snow geese which he has never seen. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but it was a good outing with rain waiting until almost dark to arrive. We began by visiting the Hayton Reserve where we saw two bald eagles in the nest tree along the entry road, a heron, an immature eagle on a stump, many, many ducks in the distance and thousands of shore birds flying overhead and in the distance. It was an outgoing tide when we arrived. From here we drove to the East and West 90 seeing many swans in the fields and eagles in the trees. At the East 90 we saw a short-eared owl, a kestrel, eagles and a few Northern Harriers. We drove to the Worline Road in Bow to see Joe Treat's driftwood sculptures in his yard which are always a "treat" and often changing. I will add a link below with information about him. When we are in the area, we like to go to Jimmy's in Stanwood for their delicious pizza before going home. Before going there, we went to Leque Island to walk the short trail there. It was low tide and getting dark so there were no photo ops, but it was a pleasant walk.
Trip Report
Skagit Wildlife Area, Leque Island - Stanwood Levee Trail — Monday, Dec. 18, 2023
Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area
Comments
Awesome birding outing!
Posted by:
BlueGoat on Dec 19, 2023 08:48 AM
For up-to-date location of snow geese, swans, here's your portal: https://www.birddash.net. Late afternoon, toward sunset is a time when flocks move from feeding grounds to roosting areas. It's very impressive to see the sky full of geese.
Posted by:
nuntheless on Dec 19, 2023 03:37 PM
What a fun adventure (despite no snow geese) to have with your oldest! Love a good pizza rec, too. :)
Posted by:
Loren Drummond on Dec 20, 2023 11:00 AM