Nookachamps Half

Ran the Nookachamps Half today. And walked it. It was the first time in a few years that I did the half. I was plenty slow. Rich came up and ran it too, running strong.  Mike showed up at the finish. Many of the usual characters were there, volunteering. I ran into Dean out by their place, which is out by Clear Lake. Great to see the Cross-Country teams doing their part. Thank you!

The weather was very mild. If I was fast, I could've ran fast. It seemed like there were more cars than usual. I probably shouldn't have listened to the radio, but I'm trying to bring music with me again, to help with the step to step motivation.

Afterwards, Rich and Mike and I headed to Calico, and then we drove around looking for birds. Bird nation represented--they were all over the place. We made it out to Edison and Fir Island.

A very good day.

 

Fir Island

This time of year, one of my favorite things to do is grab a cup of coffee and go looking for birds locally. Skagit County is a terrific place for birds: snow geese, swans, eagles, and other birds winter here. 

The flocks of snow geese on Fir Island are spectacular. Thousands of snow geese--they are loud, and will fill a field. Trumpeters swans, who pair up for life, also hole up here. We hear them honking as they fly over the house. Raptors--hawks, eagles, falcons--hunt the sloughs and wetlands. They can be seen sitting on telephone poles, doing the sentinel thing on stand alone trees in people's yards. 

These pics are off my phone, and merely illustrative of the sights to been seen. One of these days I'll go out with a nice camera and do the bird portrait thing. I did land a nice spotting scope/tripod setup, which I gave a run for the first time today. Works real good. Maybe I'll figure out a way to mount a phone and take shots through it. The internet says it can be done.

Trumpeter Swans

Snow Geese in Flight

Snow Geese in Flight

Looking out towards Camano Island

Snow Geese

Swans Again

Momma Eagle, Daddy Eagle, and Guest/Baby, By Nest

Through a Glass Darkly

The New Setup

Skagit in December

One of my favorite things is to go for a drive around the Skagit in the winter, looking for birds. Someday perhaps I'll take the photography aspect of things more seriously.

I haven't done a really long run in a while, but on just about every weekend in the last month or so I've spent a bit of time hiking Skagit dike areas, Fragrance Lake, Fir Island, or some other local place.

The migratory birds in the Skagit are fantastic this time of year. Swans, snow geese, eagles, and all sorts of smaller birds. The days are short, which can be a downer, but also seems to bring the horizon nearer towards the end of the day. There's something edgy about the air on a clear afternoon day in December. Now, if it is raining, that's usually not as interesting, unless the rain is doing something different.

I'm hoping to do a few shorter races in January.  I'm also working on lining up a few winter hikes.

Here are a few photos from around the Skagit this year.

Heavy rainfall in November and December have resulted in near flooding of the Skagit.  This picture is from Freeway Drive near downtown Mount Vernon.  In the summer, there is a sandbar across the way here, where many sit in lawn chairs, fishing for salmon or just relaxing.

This is the Padilla Bay trail, which covers about 2.2 miles along the estuary. Herons are routine sightings, along with many other smaller flocks of birds. The trail is flat--a great place just to walk and reflect. Anacortes and the San Juan islands are viewed from here. I've long enjoyed going here. Friend Rich and I hiked this trail a few weeks ago.

These two above are from the Padilla Bay trail as well.

This I think is from the Fir Island viewing area, which is accessed at the Conway I-5 exit. Right now the government is doing some "improvements" here, which will improve habitat and provide more viewing opportunities. I saw my first snowy owl in the Skagit at this spot.

Looking out towards LaConner.

Heron

Two swans. I understand they mate for life, which is something like 25 years, migrating to Canada and the Arctic, and then back to the Skagit in the winter.

Eagles, swans, and a hawk, above.

Fragrance Lake, yesterday, as is the top photos with the ornaments.  Technically this is Whatcom County, but the drive up Chuckanut is Skagit, and part of the fun of it all.

Happy holidays to all my friends. Peace on Earth, peace be with you.

Eagles in Edison

Saturday mornings in February are just grand in the Skagit.  Got up a little late, grabbed a cup of coffee at S. Bucks, and drove up Chuckanut for a hike/run in the C-nuts.  A misty morning--good conditions to be out.  Ran into Grant and his brother in different spots, and a few others, all training for Chuckanut.  While not a good run for me, it wasn't horrible either.  I managed to run all the way down without having to pull up.

The highlight of the morning were the eagles in Edison.  About a half mile past Edison, on the Farm to Market Road, there were about 50 eagles in the trees above the slough.  The picture captures one group, but there were groups like this in several trees.  Presumably, they are feeding off a salmon run.

I saw that the painter Alden Mason passed away this past week. His work is in the Seattle Art Museum and other galleries throughout the Pacific Northwest and points farther.  I was taken once by a painting of his of the Skagit Valley, where I understand he has ties. RIP Alden. 

Winter Birds In Skagit

Last year I looked hard and long for a snowy owl in the Skagit, finally spotting one after several weekends of driving around after runs in the Chuckanuts. This year...well, on Saturday I felt like getting out of the house, and I literally spotted one at the first place I went, after a ten minute drive.  I wish I brought a better camera, but the white dot above on the driftwood is a snowy owl. This is at the Hayton Reserve, out on Fir Island, off the Conway exit.

Afterwards, I drove to a number of spots on Fir Island, checking out driftwood marshes.  It's really a beautiful spot, but the wind was blowing hard, so I didn't stick around. Thousands of snow geese flying in flocks, fleeing hunters. Trumpeter swans, flying across the fields, in pairs and larger groups. Hawks and eagles all over too.

I got some workouts in this weekend, but nothing spectacular. Christmas is upon me, and my plate seems full. Happy holidays, friends. 

Big Ditch Access

Saturday was a regular squall of a day. Rain coming down, bouncing off the street and roof. There were some good running options, but since I'm not running well, and because I had work to do, I decided to take the morning and head up to the Chuckanuts. I was out for 2 hours-plus, and got drenched, despite being under the trees. Good to see WTA working on the Fragrance Lake trail, despite the weather. And a lot of faces I didn't recognize seemed to be scoping out the Chuckanut course. By the end of the morning, all I wanted was to be dry and inside.

On Sunday, I discovered the Big Ditch Access, south of Conway. This is a DNR site--Discovery Pass required--with wetlands reaching out to the sea, with views of Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Very cool to be discover wild places near home. Big Ditch Access is off the Conway to Stanwood road, at a junction with railroad tracks. There's a sign, but it's not all that clear.

And this isn't a real great place to run, but it is a wonderful quiet spot to stop, observe, and reflect. Acres of marsh and cattails, with old logs and snags, here and there. I guess a whole lot of cattails are edible. The roots are "nature's spaghetti," so I've heard. And then there were eagles sitting on poles, hawks on logs, ducks in the slough. Shotgun shells here and there--obviously a place favored by bird hunters.

Snowy Owls

I've been looking for snowy owls all winter, and finally made it to Boundary Bay in British Columbia on Sunday. Snowy owls everywhere--25 to 30, easy to be seen, just hanging out on logs. All I had was my phone for a camera, so the photos leave something to be desired.  News of the irruption was a birder thing originally, but now has become an international story, with this being the biggest southern migration since 1998.

Directions:  Going north, take Ladner Trunk Road exit, roughly 10 minutes past border. Take Ladner Trunk north to 72nd St., left turn, drive to the end. Lots of people checking them out. They've been camping out there for a couple months. The birds I mean, not the people. Occupy Boundary Bay, big white bird style.

Here's an article for the Seattle Times by my friend Mike, plus a couple more bad pics from me, just to prove I was there. Nothing proves presence like bad photos.

Winter Birds in the Skagit

After kicking around Blanchard Mountain this morning, I went looking for birds. The Skagit valley in winter is a great place for birding. I've been way into it this month. This morning I saw at least 30 eagles, a few peregrine falcons, hawks, and some amazing flocks of little birds that shall remain nameless, for now.  I saw at least 7 eagles in two different trees.

I wish I had worthy camera gear. I realize these photos aren't much--but they help remind me of what I was doing in this here and now. All sorts of people were out on the side of the road, with good camera gear, taking pictures of eagles. Today I was in the flats near Edison, but there are a lot of places to go. I try to stay near the rivers, as that's where the birds seem to hang out.

I was really looking for a snowy owl. I've never seen one, but I understand a few are around here and there. In the summer they live up in the northern parts of Canada, but every few years they make it this far south in the winter. I guess they tend to hang out in fields, and can be mistaken for other white birds, like the snow geese. No luck today, but the search will continue.

I loaded the Audubon bird guide on my phone this week. It has a function that allows persons using the app to report sightings, and then the sightings are mapped. Pretty cool, especially when it comes to trying to locate a rarer bird like the snowy owl.