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. 

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.