Wendy and I spent the afternoon in the Stillaguamish, Skagit and Samish
areas today. It was a grand day with Kestrels, eagles, Red-tails, Harriers,
Merlins, Rough-legs, Short-eared Owls and a few hundred swans. No Snow
Geese! Are they hanging out in the Sound, as someone suggested?
Anyway, get up there and take it in.
We love so close to a . magical area.
Alan Roedell, Seattle

On Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 12:01 PM Karen Wosilait <karen.w.mobile at gmail.com>
wrote:


> I'll add to what Nancy said: look up and listen for Snow Geese too. Their

> "vees" are rather disorganized and remind me of iron fillings under the

> influence of a magnet.

>

> Hayton is a great place to go early to try to catch them taking off for

> the day. I've also seen them settling in for the night on nearby fields

> from Hayton.

>

> Karen Wosilait (she/her)

> Seattle, WA

> karen.w.mobile at gmail.com

>

> On Dec 29, 2023, at 10:38 AM, Nancy Crowell <nkcrowell at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> 

> I live up here. The snow geese seem to be hanging out on the water during

> the daytime - visible from Hayton (Fir Island Farm Reserve) & Jensen

> access. Swans are plentiful. Many hanging around the outskirts of La Conner

> lately. If you get lucky you might spot the great egret either near the

> ditch on Calhoun, or La Conner Whitney.

>

> Nancy

> "Images for the imagination."

> www.crowellphotography.com

> ------------------------------

> *From:* Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf

> of Jamie Holland <jamietholland at gmail.com>

> *Sent:* Friday, December 29, 2023 10:24:16 AM

> *To:* Josh DeSilvey <jmdesilvey at gmail.com>

> *Cc:* tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* Re: [Tweeters] Swans and geese in Skagit County

>

> Hi Josh,

>

> I hope someone who has been up in the last day or two replies, as they

> seem to move around depending on the day. I didn't see a single (living)

> Snow Goose on our trip through that area just before Christmas, but the

> swans were much more widespread. I also wasn't scouring every small field,

> so perhaps more diligence would yield better results.

>

> To route the trip, I used the maps and driving directions located in the

> Birder's Guide to Washington. The Skagit section is here:

> https://wabirdguide.org/skagit-flats/, and the Samish section is here:

> https://wabirdguide.org/samish-flats/.

>

> If you have a whole day, I'd suggest starting in the Skagit flats as

> recommended in the Birder's Guide, at Exit 221 for Conway Road, and slowly

> working your way east and then north into the Samish flats. If you're

> looking purely for swans and geese, I'd skip the upland walk at Padilla

> Bay. That's likely to get you to the Samish East 90s corner by

> mid-afternoon, which seems to be a good time to spot dueling Short-Eared

> Owls and Northern Harriers.

>

> We actually thought we might've seen Snow Geese far out on the water when

> we were on Fir Island at Jenson Access, but my mom had just taken a spill

> and I was too distracted to set up the scope. I told myself they were

> probably gulls, but there was something ungullike in their appearance, and

> someone said recently that Snow Geese will take to the water in certain

> circumstances to do with the cycle of the moon.

>

> Jamie Holland

>

>

>

> On Fri, Dec 29, 2023 at 6:23 AM Josh DeSilvey <jmdesilvey at gmail.com>

> wrote:

>

> Hello - if the weather is favorable on Saturday, I was planning a trip up

> to Skagit county to view the populations of swans and geese that winter

> there, (as read on Tweeters listserv). I took a look at eBird and it looks

> Fir Island could be a good place. But in thought I would ask here for some

> guidance as to where some of better fields are.

>

> Thanks for your help and happy new year!

>

> Josh DeSilvey

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