Twice recently we have taken birding day trips to Whidbey Island and north to March Point. We know people who took the Whidbey Island ferry on the weekend and had a 2.5 hour wait. We went during the week. Each time we were lucky with waits of 5 minutes at most. Our goal was cooler temperatures, no crowds and hopefully some birds. Yesterday it was 20 degrees cooler on Whidbey than in Issaquah! On the first trip we started at Keystone Spit and Crockett Lake. It was easy to avoid people & enjoy some good birds including a close up view of a Pigeon Guillemot feeding.

>>>

>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/50149755126

>>>

>>> We also enjoyed birding at Dugualla Bay which had a good variety of birds and no people. A drawback was the low flying jets, but we just plugged our ears and birded on. Likewise Joseph Whidbey State Park had few people and some interesting birds, but a scope was almost a necessity. Adding in the birds at nearby Swantown/Bos Lake made that a worthwhile stop. Deception Pass State Park was a total zoo, packed with people most of whom were maskless. We didn't get out of the car. March Point north of Whidbey was filled with RVs the first time that we went, but the second time was basically empty resulting in some enjoyable birding...

>>> Black-bellied Plover

>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/50164283757/in/dateposted/

>>>

>>> Black Oystercatcher

>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/50164031531/in/dateposted/

>>>

>>> Video of both in close proximity

>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/50163794053/in/dateposted/

>>>

>>> Combined album from the two days

>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/albums/72157715227291628

>>

>>> When we go on one of these day trips we rely heavily on WA Dashboard. We plug in the appropriate county and some birds that we might like to find and see what places pop up. Fortunately there is a button for each location that results in directions to the birding locale.

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>> http://birdingwashington.info/dashboard/wa/

>>>

>>>

>>> Happy birding! Hank & Karen Heiberg. Issaquah, WA

>>

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