Tuesday, January 17, 2017

JANUARY VISITS TO NISQUALLY AND SKAGIT WILDLIFE AREAS

Winter is birding season in Puget Sound...especially in river deltas. Raptors, geese, swans, and other waterfowl become abundant in the delta areas.  Both the Skagit and Nisqually deltas are within 60 miles of Seattle making a day birding trip easy....except for the dreaded I-5 traffic.  Always bring a passenger for the car pool lane..it will lessen the pain.  :)  The image of the Golden Eagle is the first sighting for me in the Skagit in over 50 trips.  Short-eared Owls are common now in the Skagit and being

daytime hunters makes it perfect.  Snow Geese and Trumpeter and Tundra Swans are abundant in winter.


Long-eared Owl

Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier

American Bittern

Northern Harrier Female

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle

Northern Harrier

Rough-legged Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Pissed off Short-eared Owl

Snow Geese

Snow Geese

Snow Geese

Snow Geese

Juv. Snow Geese

Bald Eagles on kill

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Mt. Baker

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Trumpeter Swans

American Wigeon 

Great Blue Heron catching vole

Great Blue Heron with vole lunch

Green-winged Teal

Hooded Merganser

Frozen Nisqually backwater

Mt. Rainier

Peregrine Falcon

Ring-billed Gull

Northern Shovelers and Mallard 

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Tundra and Trumpeter Swans

Trumpeter Swan