SKAGIT VALLEY SWANS, SNOW GEESE, AND RAPTORS ADVENTURE - *Sundays with Sunny and Friends!
FULL DAY TOUR
Check the Escape Route Calendar for Tour Dates!
UPCOMING DATES: February 2009 - Call to today to reserve your spot! 206.650.5795
Tour Length: 10 hrs
Tour Code: ES01
Pick-Up: Northgate Park ‘n Ride,
Departing: 8:00 a.m.
Returns: 6:30 p.m.
Activities: Birding, wildlife viewing, walking, & educational sightseeing
Difficulty: Easy
Carbon Footprint:
Season: Winter & Spring
Cost: $175 per person
Min No of Passengers:
Inclusions:
North Seattle pick up and drop off; highly qualified and knowledgeable naturalist guide; travel in luxury vehicle; excellent casual lunch; selected fruit, energy bars, soda, juice, and tea; all entry and parking fees; slide show; and comprehensive commentary.
Description:
Enjoy this Sunday with tour guide Sunny Walter, professional wildlife photographer, photo tour leader, and co-author of “Washington Nature Weekends, 52 Adventures in Nature.” Our accompanying birding expert is Brian Bell, Master Birder, birding tour leader, and author of “Birds of Washington State.”
The Snow Geese that winter in the Skagit Valley nest and raise their young on Wrangel Island, off the northern coast of Siberia. In normal years, 40,000 to 60,000 birds nest in the Russian colony, with up to 50,000 wintering in Skagit Valley. More than 4,000 Trumpeter Swans join these thousands of geese, all here for the same reason, to rest and eat before they return north to their nesting grounds.
Swans and geese begin arriving in the Skagit Valley in mid- to late October and can be seen throughout the valley. The geese leave for Siberia in mid-April; swans a month earlier. Other waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors also are abundant in winter
We will start the day with a one-hour hour trip north to the Skagit Valley. We will show photos of birds we expect to find on our onboard projection screen, and as we approach Conway, we will begin looking in the fields. When you see white birds on the ground here in the winter, they are one or more of three species—gulls, snow geese or swans. Of course, it’s pretty easy to tell if the birds are gulls by their smaller size. Snow Geese are all white, except for black wing tips that are most visible when they fly. The birds have a three-foot wing span and weigh about 6 pounds; bills and feet are pink. Trumpeter Swans are much larger than geese and have longer necks.
After stopping for a rest break at the Conway Deli, we will tour Fir Island, looking for the flocks of geese that fly in from their nighttime roosts on the waters of Skagit Bay to their daytime feeding areas in the Fir Island agricultural fields. On a clear day you can see Mt Baker and the Cascades in the background. We will have binoculars for everyone and will exit our vehicle and set up scopes whenever we see a big flock. If we stay long enough in one location, we may observe the thrilling sight of thousands of birds all rising into the air at once when an eagle or hawk flies over. Bring your cameras to capture this awesome sight.
After our Fir Island tour, we will take a rest break at Skagit Wildlife Area headquarters and then enjoy a short walk on the dyke trail, looking for the many species of sparrows that can be seen in the hedgerows near the boat launch.
Lunch today is at a local favorite, the Conway Pub and Eatery in the bottom of the old Conway school, which features smoked oysters, oyster shooters, and great burgers. After lunch we will cross the North Fork of the Skagit, drive up through the Skagit Valley to the Breazeale Interpretive Center. We will keep an eye out for Trumpeter Swans all along this route.
After exploring the interpretive center, we will drive north through Samish Flats, one of the best locations in the state for winter raptors. We will watch the shallow ponds for flocks of shorebirds and waterfowl and we will look on the power poles and other perches for the raptors who feed on these foraging birds. We hope to see the spectacular sight of shorebirds lifting up off the ponds en masse as raptors fly over.
Our main raptor stop is at the West 90 parking area, where we can walk out on elevated area for good views of wintering raptors. We will use our binoculars and scope to view Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles, hoping also to see Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Harriers, several falcons, and Short-eared Owls as they hunt the fields.
It’s time to look more closely for Trumpeter Swans as we drive through Edison and along the back roads off Chuckanut Drive. These wintering birds dine on what is left of various crops after harvest or what has been specifically planted for them. In early to mid-March, rested and fortified, the birds begin their journey north to nest and raise their young.
Our last stop is the Johnson/DeBay Swan Reserve. After hunting season ends in late January, WDFW knocks down the grain and there is good viewing of hundreds of swans and thousands of ducks feeding in the grain fields, with Bald Eagles in trees surrounding the field. We will time our arrival to see the Trumpeter Swans fly out at night.
Our quest for Big White Birds ends with a one-hour drive back to Seattle, arriving back at the Northgate P&R around 6:30pm.
This tour can be customized as a private tour, call or email for a quote.
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