Subject: Trip Report - Upper Skagit River, Jan 31'04
Date: Feb 1 14:13:23 2004
From: Peter Sullins - thesullinsfamily at earthlink.net


All...

Report of trip up the Skagit River (above Rockport) looking for
Baldies...

Conditions: Jan'04 Jaunt to Skagit River for Eagles. Temp throughout day
around 40Deg, cloudy with occasional periods of bright sunshine. Breezy,
sometimes windy. Began raining hard as we were headed home, around
Sedro-Wooley. Skagit River running hard and fast. Lower reaches of River
cloudy and mixed. Higher reaches faster but greener & clear. Lots of log
piles from the river about. Took "shortcut" on way up through Johnson-Debay
Swan Reserve.

Everett Sewage Ponds:
2 Great Blue Herons

Johnson-DeBay Swan Reserve:
~250 Tundra Swans
~50 Canada Geese
4 Northern Harriers coursing abt in surrounding environs
1 Double-Crested Cormorant (imm) in small creek as you go in
1 Red-Winged Blackbird
~200 Mallards in the small creek as you go in
(Interestingly, the Mallards and the DBL-Cr Cormorant were all in
the small creek on the South side of the entrance road. We saw nothing on
the North side.)

Skagit River Hwy Area (up river from Johnson-DeBay on Old Skagit
River Hwy to Rockport; SR20 above Rockport):
33 Bald Eagles (Fair number of imm looking pretty bedraggled)
8 Double-Crested Cormorants (Surprised the number of DBL-Cr'd about.
Hadn't seen this many, or any for that matter, this far up the River)
6 Common Goldeneyes
10 Stellar's Jays (One flock of 6 moving as one)
1 American Dipper
3 Herring Gulls
15 Barrow's Goldeneyes, abt equal male/female (Colors very crisp and
bright)
1 Varied Thrush
~150 Canada Geese below Rockport in and about the damp and/or
flooded fields

The Dipper, Gulls, Barrow's, and most of the Eagles were seen above
Marblemount at the various turnouts on SR20. The Americar Dipper was the
highlight of the day for me. The bird landed on a rock in the River. He
paused a moment then hopped into the River, bobbed a moment and then dived.
Popped up about 10' up River from where he'd dove. Always read about this
behavior but never observed it until this sighting. Very interesting.

Peter Sullins
The Sullins Family
In The Village of Silver Firs
Everett, WA
TheSullinsFamily at earthlink.net