Best Intentions: Skagit County 2025
By Jay Adams and Michael Sheldon
The traditional February trip to the bottomlands of the Skagit and Samish rivers did not come off as planned this year. Trip leader Jay Adams and I had looked forward to at least one—and possibly two—visits with Whidbey birders, but we were thwarted by persistent rains and high winds.
However, we did have good luck on a reconnaissance trip on January 29. The sun was shining and, almost immediately after we crossed the Skagit onto Fir Island, we were greeted by a large number of snow geese. Reporters on e-bird were estimating the size of the flock at either 5,000 or 10,000 birds. Or as Jay put it, “who-knows-how many individuals?” He noted the presence of both adult and young birds but, unfortunately, no “blue” geese. He also failed “as usual” in his attempt to pick out any of the nearly mythical Ross’s geese that sometimes intermingle with their larger cousins. However, we did enjoy the spectacle of the flock putting up and then resettling, multiple times.
We then traced the perimeter of Fir Island counter-clockwise, taking the back roads. Our target species were eagles and buteos, as well as swans—trumpeters for sure, and tundra swans if we were lucky. Eagles were plentiful; we also spotted a few red-tailed hawks and at least two dozen trumpeter swans. However, one of the most hoped-for species, the rough-legged hawk, did not make an appearance.
A confiding kestrel on a powerline was some compensation. And the sight of American wigeons filling the sky with Mt. Baker as a backdrop would have made anyone’s day if that’s all they’d seen. But wait, there’s more…
A quick stop at Wylie Slough rewarded us with a nice variety of ducks: mallards, shovelers, green-winged teal, a male ring-necked duck and a couple of pied-billed grebes. Jay was particularly excited to see a half-dozen long-billed dowitchers so early in the season, as well as two greater yellowlegs, a single sanderling, and a small dunlin flock.
For a finale, we headed north to the Samish Flats. The intersection of Bayview Edison Road and Samish Island Road, forms a “T” with the so-called “East 90” less than a minute’s drive to the east. Here, on weekend mornings you can find what seems like half the photographers in Skagit County, all hoping to get good looks as the short-eared owls that frequent the area. So it was on the afternoon of January 29—even though it was a Wednesday. There was only one owl—but what a performance! It flew on snappy wing beats, cruising at ground level, then landing in a road-side ditch or rising up to perch on the overhead wires: oblivious to the dozens of long lenses pointed its way and the sound of high-speed shutters choking the air like a marsh full of insects at dusk.