Took my mom to Skagit Valley for some bird watching today. The countryside is very pretty with fall foliage. We started at Welts-Samish. It’s hunting season so we didn’t go too far out. We saw small flocks of snow geese scattered on different fields and a few swans. Most of the birds we saw today were on Fir Island. Lucky to catch an eagle show at Wiley Slough. Plenty of people out in a Thursday afternoon.

A pleasant walk on the dikes at Wiley Slough. Nice views of Baker, White Horse, Three Fingers, Mount Pilchuck, and the Olympics. At one end of the trail there is an active eagle nest. The trail is gated about 25 yards away to prevent access. We saw two eagles perched in the tree. I am planning on returning in a few weeks with binoculars to try and see the fledglings. A very nice Sunday afternoon stroll. 

I've been curious about this birding trail for a while, and a birthday was the perfect excuse for stepping away from a super-busy spring and finally explore it.

A Mediterranean-style spring day was the icing on the cake: forecast was adamant it'd be mid-60s in Skagit Valley today and we believed it, but it was actually mid-70s by the time we got there in mid-afternoon. The still purely snow-white Mt. Baker was the main reminder that it's not July yet. 

Panoramic views all around as far as the top of Mt. Rainier in the distance, and the trail almost deserted. We took the "spur" trail, that's the best one. A lovely East Indian couple taught us the names of some birds, and alerted us that the huge raptor nest under which we walked towards the end of the trail is in fact occupied, and later we even got to see the nesting parent's signature white head up close (see video).

Afterwards we took a "tourist" tour round the valley, coffee in La Conner and then a sneak peak at some flower fields in the golden light with most of the day's crowds gone.

Good hike for early spring with dogs in tow. We saw the tides come into the estuary, a wide variety of shore birds, eagles, herons, ducks, swans, and songbirds.

 We are camped at Bayview SP and our daughter and her husband who live in Edmonds came up for the day to enjoy the birds in the Skagit. On our drive to Wiley Slough we saw 2 large flocks of snow geese on both sides of the Chilberg Road. There was room to park along the side of the road which allowed our son-in-law to enjoy the sight and sounds of his first experience seeing the activity of thousands of snow geese! The off and on rain stopped while we meandered 2 miles at Wiley Slough. We had blue skies with fluffy white clouds and then times of threatening dark skies, but no rain! We walked north at a junction instead of continuing west as we usually do! Osoberry (Indian plum) and pussy willows were starting to bloom. The wind made the temperature very cold especially when the sun was behind the clouds! We arrived shortly after low tide so there wasn't much water, but we saw green-winged teal which were the main ducks seen, dunlin, herons, widgeon, a killdeer, grebe, and a bufflehead pair.