Subject: Re: Whidbey Island Birding
Date: Dec 19 05:56:51 1996
From: Patrick Scott - scott931 at uidaho.edu




On Thu, 19 Dec 1996 BirdAHikes at aol.com wrote:

> My husband, my brother and I are going to be in Oak Harbor for Christmas with
> our son/nephew who is stationed there. We want to know if there have been
> any good bird sightings lately and where. We'll be there on the 24th and
> 25th, leaving the 26th. We'll probably try Hastie Lake Road and Penn Cove
> but are there any other good birding sights we should try? Thanks!
>

Don't miss a little park called Captain Whidbey or something like that.
It's a park with a beach, access to a marsh, and there's a nearby
pond/lagoon with unbelievable waterfowl birding in the winter. Fairly
easy to get to....might be called Joseph Whidbey (the name escapes me, I'm
sorry!) The gate may be closed, in which case you might park right outside
of it and hoof it in. (Not more than 100 feet, in any case)

Cormorants are usually found there, we spotted some terns last Xmas, all
sorts of ducks (especially harlequin ducks, which are rare for us
inlanders), harriers, other raptors, lots of gulls, herons, sparrows (esp.
white-crowned, if I recall)....

If woodpeckers and towhees are your thing, check out any of the foresty
parks (should see them on the map). Also, the south park entrance to
Deception Pass State Park has a lake, and a beach area. Look for loons,
grebes, and mergansers on the lake (in addition to the cormorants, gulls,
and regular ducks). Gulls like to perch in the trees there, too. Check
the bushes for sparrows; they're usually quite ubiquitous and quite
charming, as well.

I was stationed on "the Rock" for a while myself, tell your nephew it's
one of the best places to be and not to feel too bad about it (if indeed,
he's down about it. :)

Good birding!

-Pat
scott931 at uidaho.edu