Short Trips: Birds and birders flock to these fertile fields

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Thursday, January 30, 2003

Short Trips: Birds and birders flock to these fertile fields

By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER

As Seattle birder Marv Breece and I chatted alongside Maupin Road in the Skagit Valley, a woman leaned out of the passenger window of an SUV as it slowed to a stop in the middle of the busy road and gestured toward us to get our attention. She wanted to know if the snow geese in the field behind us were all females. Breece scratched his head for a second, looked over his shoulder toward the geese, then back at the woman and replied, "Nope. They're males and females, and there are thousands of them out there."

PHOTO GALLERY


	Jeff Larsen / P-I
Great blue herons take a breather on Hope Island. Thousands of people visit the Skagit Valley each winter to glimpse the incredible variety of bird life there.

See more photos from Jeff's trip to the Skagit Valley.

Together with her three kids and husband, the woman told me they had decided that the smaller group of larger geese they saw in another field nearby must be the males of the same species. They had mistakenly identified adult trumpeter swans as large snow geese. Besides both being white, to me the two birds look quite different, even from a distance. The trumpeter swan is much larger with a much longer neck.

It shows. Not everyone is a bird expert. That includes me, even if I do know the difference between a trumpeter swan and a snow goose. But what that encounter made me realize is that you don't have to be a bird expert to enjoy what should be considered one of this state's premier winter tourist destinations: the Skagit Valley.

A little more than an hour north of downtown Seattle, the lush soil and grasses of the fertile Skagit Valley attract thousands of snow geese and trumpeter swans who like to winter there every year because of the mild climate and food availability.

Unlike years past, the trumpeter swans seem to be spread out in smaller groups over a larger area of the valley. In the past, the huge birds would congregate in large numbers in more predictable spots in the valley.

The chum-filled Skagit River this time of year is the perfect habitat for hundreds of bald eagles who group along the river at various points to scavenge the salmon. The stately, mature bald eagle, with its magnificent white head, also can be found all over the valley, hunting from large snags adjacent to the plowed and grassy farm fields that teem with rodents and other small game they like to eat.


		Jeff Larsen / P-I
	A magnificent bald eagle takes flight from a tall snag near Fir Island Road in the Skagit Valley.

For a little more money but a lot more adventure, Bob Plank, owner of Viking Cruises, charters a variety of excursions for birders and non-birders on his 58-foot boat the Viking Star. This time of year, pass- engers may see as many as 100 bird species on one of his cruises from his La Conner moorage to points west. Plank, a birder with lots of experience in the region, knows the breeds and which birds guests might expect to see and where.

Last Saturday, while I was on land in the valley, Breece made a little news in the birding community when he spotted a blue morph (snow goose) -- once thought to be a distinct species called blue goose -- socializing in one of the large flocks that likes to frequent the farmlands and pastures near Fir Island in the Skagit Valley. National Geographic says it's rare for the blue morph to be spotted west of the Great Plains. Breece said so far this year birders have only recorded three other single blue-goose sightings among the other snow geese.

Breece, an experienced birder, who spotted the rare blue morph with his powerful scope, said despite its much darker color, picking one out of the thousands of other snow geese is like "finding a needle in a haystack." He was very excited about the sighting and very helpful to me as a non-birder.

Birders get excited about that stuff. But that's how they spend most of their leisure time, and the ultimate reward for them is to find a rare bird that other birders might have missed.

Between November and March -- weekdays or weekends, it doesn't matter -- thousands of non-birders without scopes and without the fancy foul-weather gear, drive in from all over the region to try to see bird life in the valley. They are regular folks who just want to see some of the extraordinary bird populations without getting too scientific about it.

I would recommend travelers arrange their day trip to the valley as if it were their own personal mini-safari. Dress warmly, pack a lunch and binoculars, make sure everyone's head is on a swivel, let the driver drive and let the swivel- headed passengers watch for birds.

Besides the swans, geese, and eagles, Breece said the valley is home to five varieties of falcons as well as a number of hawk species, plus a host of other birds, including great blue herons, which are very common.

Most of the bird action I found was along the roads west of Interstate 5 from Conway on the south, to Samish Island (northwest of Mount Vernon) on the north and west to La Conner. A map of the valley is helpful but the paved country roads crisscross the valley in a pattern that makes it difficult to get lost. The landscape is so flat it's easy to tell which way you're headed.


		Jeff Larsen / P-I
	Snow geese spend their summers in Alaska, but in winter they flock by the thousands to the warmer climate of the Skagit Valley.

First I took the Conway/La Conner exit northbound on I-5 and followed the signs to La Conner. Just after I crossed the bridge at Conway on Fir Island Road, I turned right on Skagit City Road, which parallels the north fork of the Skagit River dikes snaking through the valley. The road eventually turns into Dry Slough Road. In a 15-minute period I spotted 12 bald eagles, some in tall snags that flank the river and others in open pasture lands.

One suggestion: Don't try to photograph the eagles unless you're a professional or an accomplished amateur. Bald eagles are easy enough to spot in the tall trees because of their size, but the valley isn't a zoo and most likely you won't get close enough to the them to get a picture. Take your camera or video recorder anyway because you might be lucky and get close enough to score a picture of the snow geese.

From Dry Slough Road I made my way back to Fir Island Road and headed west toward La Conner to try to find the famous snow geese. Along the way I spotted several small groups of trumpeter swans in nearby fields and pastures, but nothing like the major flocks from years past. A pair of bald eagles perched in an old snag alongside the road drew quite a crowd.

A favorite hangout for the snow geese is near Rawlins Road near Maupin Road. Heading west, follow Fir Island Road as it curves north to a spot just before you cross another bridge to the La Conner turnoff. From a distance, the flocks in the fields that I could see from Fir Island Road looked like large patches of snow.

Besides the sheer number of birds -- well into the thousands -- up close the noise of the combined quacking is extraordinary to say the least, and you can hear them a half-mile away. When thousands of geese fly all at once from one pasture to another it's like a blizzard that has a life of its own.

Naturalists and birders encourage visitors to respect the creatures by limiting their movements, staying a good distance away, and keeping dogs in the car. It's also important to be courteous to other motorists, respect posted no-trespassing signs and to avoid parking on private property. Winter is an important time for all of the birds in the Skagit Valley, so any disruptions to their natural behavioral patterns can be devastating.

From the snow geese flocks, I headed north on Best Road, past the La Conner cutoff, past state Route 20, all the way to the Josh Wilson Road, which leads to Padilla Bay, Bayview State Park and then winds around and eventually intersects with Samish Island Road.

Samish Island Road is your best bet to spot eagles, and if you want to know where they are just look for all of the cars pulled off on the shoulder. Signs warn motorists not to park on the pavement and the shoulders are wide enough for most cars. In one stretch of Samish Island Road, I was lucky enough to see a red-tailed hawk, a peregrine falcon, five bald eagles and some mallards that had dodged nearby duck hunters.

East of I-5 along Route 20 farther up the Skagit River, bald eagles, as one birder told me, are as "plentiful as sparrows" this time of year because of the chum salmon. The Bald Eagle Interpretive Center in the Rockport Fire Hall, one block south of state Route 20, is open on Fridays and weekends until Feb. 17 if you want to learn more about the eagle and its habitat.

IF YOU GO:

Viking Cruises -- 109 N. First St., La Conner; 360-466-2639; www.vikingcruises.com

Bald Eagle Interpretive Center -- Rockport Fire Hall on Alfred Street, Rockport, ; 360-853-7614; www.skagiteagle.org.

P-I photographer Jeff Larsen can be reached at 206-448-8150. For personal e-mail contact: jefflarsen@seattlepi.com. For general releases: shorttrips@seattlepi.com.

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