Get ready for some eye candy. Trips to the Skagit area are a treat that Ms. JG (my wife, spotter, and sidekick) and I have the privilege of to sharing with you.
We started out with close encounters of the eagle kind, as shown in the lead photo. A Bald Eagle landed on the narrow dike path about 50 yards in front of us. Because of gale-force winds and the cold, and we’d already been outdoors for a couple of hours, we were ready to get back to our vehicle. As we walked closer and closer, expecting the eagle to fly at any time, we finally stopped within about 30 paces. The eagle would look at us and then spend minutes looking away. Here is a shot before it finally took off.
Short-eared Owls are always a thrill for us when they are in our area. We weren’t sure if they would be around in early November, but we were delighted to find two. They interacted with each other and with Northern Harriers.
Shore birds are not easy to ID. Others helped with the ID of this Dunlin.
This is a short video clip I took with an iPhone to give you the feel for what it was like to see thousands of Snow Geese on the move. The noise was thunderous as flock after flock joined together before the final migration move.
I hope you have enjoyed a sense of our Skagit adventure. We will be retuning in late December for more of the same and maybe some surprises.
Now it’s your turn to make this Dawn Chorus sing. What has the song of fall brought to your life?