Subject: Visiting WA, Feb 7-9
Date: Feb 3 07:52:18 2003
From: Dan Clark - danclark at seanet.com


Roy,

SKAGIT FLATS
There is a good sized flock of Snow Geese on Skagit Flats (between the
North and South forks of the Skagit River). Last Saturday (2/1), I
photographed a flock of about 2000-3000 Snow Geese at the intersection
of Browns Slough Road and Fir Island Road, which is about two miles west
of Conway, WA. Conway is about 80 miles North of Seattle on I5.

SAMISH FLATS
Also, at Samish Flats ("West 90" area), we had GREAT views of Bald
Eagles (10-15 adults and 1 immature), light and dark morph Red Tail
Hawks(3), Peregrine Falcons(5-6), Prairie Falcon(1) and Northern Harrier
(1). To get to Samish Flats:

Summary: 93.4 miles (1 hour, 43 minutes)
Mile Instruction For
Toward
3.7 Depart SeaTac Airport and Merge onto I-5
(North) 75.2 mi
78.9 At I-5 Exit 230, turn off onto Ramp
0.3 mi
79.2 Merge onto SR-20 [Rio Vista Ave]
(South-West) 6.1 mi
85.3 Near Whitney, turn RIGHT (North) onto Bayview Edison Rd
5.9 mi
(Note - This is the SECOND large intersection)
91.2 Continue (North) on B View Edison Rd
[Bayview Edison Rd] 2.2 mi
93.4 Arrive Intersection of Bayview Edison Road and Samish Island
Road.

At this point, you will be at a "T" intersection. This is the "West 90"
area. Some options:
- You can turn left and go about 1/2 mile (West) where the road then
turns right and goes North. At the corner where the road goes north is
a Fish and Wildlife parking lot. (Holds about 20 cars. A sticker is
required. Costs $12 at sporting goods stores, maybe WalMart.) Using
your scope you should be able to see many raptors from this vista.

- Going out of the parking lot, turn left and continue North for about a
mile or so. Good views of more raptors.

- At the "T" intersection mentioned above, you can turn right and follow
the road (slowly) for 1-2 miles (it turns North and then winds around).
Again, excellent views of more raptors.

BAY VIEW STATE PARK
On the way to the "T" intersection, on Bayview Edison Road, is the Bay
View State Park. The park isn't much, but you can get excellent views of
water birds (Loons, Ducks, etc). Directions:

>From Route SR-20 at (Whitney)
- Turn Right onto Bay View Edison Road
- Go 3.5 miles until you see the sign, "Bay View State Park".
- Turn right into the park
- Go about 50 feet and turn left
- Follow the road for about 200 yards into the underpass
as it goes UNDER Bay View Edison road.

Note that the park requires a 5$ parking fee via a self-service, fee
envelope system (apparently unmonitored). There are no gates, so if
you are only going to be a few minutes there, you may not have to pay
the fee.

DECEPTION PASS STATE PARK
I had excellent view of Loons and Ducks there about a month ago.
Deception Pass is about 6-7 miles directly south of Anacortes (about 15
miles North West of Mt. Vernon).

MARCH POINT ROAD
Check out March Point road. On the Eastern side of March Point, we had
VERY GOOD views of a large number of water birds about three weeks ago.
>From Route 20 at Whitney, continue west on Route 20 for about two miles.
Just on the other side of the bridge is an exit to March Point road.
After you exit Route 20, towards March Point road, go about .5 miles and
turn right on to March Point Road (again). (You're at the right point
if you go over a set of railroad tracks immediately after turning
right.) At this point, you will be on the Eastern side of March Point.
Great views all along this road. Since the road is circular, it will
bring you back to Route 20 in about six miles.

BIRDING CRUISES
Contact Viking Cruises out of La Conner. They have reasonably priced
(about $30-$50) short cruises specifically for birders. Here's a link:
http://www.vikingcruises.com/. They have a 58ft boat. You can contact
them to see if there is a group tour going while you are there. You
might be able to get in on the group tour. My wife and I are going on
one of these in two-three weeks.

You may want to stay at Anacortes. Nice place. There are a variety of
hotels and motels for varying price ranges.

Good luck on your visit to Washington.

Regards,

Dan.

P.s. If you don't already have it, get "Microsoft Streets and Trips"
(about $30). You can print out detailed maps of the area, or use it on
a laptop. Best "birding" software that I know of.


-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Roy Harvey
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 7:55 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: RFI: Visiting WA, Feb 7-9


I'll be flying into SeaTac late Thursday (Feb 6) and birding till late
Sunday afternoon. On two past visits (late Sept, mid Nov) I split my
time between Ocean Shores and Nisqually, with just a bit of inland
birding. This time I figure on heading north, and visiting (more or
less) Skagit Flats, Samish Flats, Deception Pass, Anacortes, and the
upper Skagit valley area. I have "Birders Guide to Washington" by
MacRae, and have been scouring the web for ideas and directions. I will
be bringing my scope.

I haven't found a lot of information on what will be reasonably
findable, just the CBC numbers. I've only come up with a few specific
target birds that might not be a stretch: Trumpeter Swan, Barrows
Goldeneye, and perhaps Pacific Loon. And just about any sea birds
viewable from land would be great. Otherwise I will probably just be
happy to see what I can see, and get familiar with your western birds.

Some questions:

Am I missing some other area I really should see? I could pick a home
base (Mt Vernon seems central enough) and get a motel room for three
days. It sounds like I could keep busy for that long easily. Or I
could keep my options open and just find a motel each night.

I've read about a sticker for my car to be able to use some state lands.
A call to the licensing office told me that there are no restrictions on
getting this for non-residents or rental cars. If I do not get one will
I be missing out on much? It sounds like they are widely available
(Wal-mart, etc.).

Are there any nice slow ferries up that way that would be worth making a
round trip on?

Are there any groups making trips up that way that weekend?

Thanks for any ideas or thoughts.

Roy Harvey
rmharvey at snet.net
Beacon Falls, CT