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Author: Adriaan

Birding in New Providence Island, the Bahamas

Yes another article not based in the PNW! But in our defense Alaska Airlines now flies direct to Nassau, and since we collect Alaska points it seemed like a wonderful spot for a winter vacation while the weather here in Washington was not so pleasant, and we could do some Bahamas Birding. Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas on the island of New Providence, not the largest of the Bahamas islands but the most accessible.

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The Elephant Seals of San Luis Obispo

An old friend once told me San Luis Obispo was his favorite place in California. He would check for SLO jobs weekly in case there was something to apply to that would get him back to his favorite city. Because of this I’ve always wanted to visit, it is a bit of it’s own destination as it’s not too close to either the Bay Area or Los Angeles but located somewhere in between. With an Elephant Seal rookery just north in San Simeon, nearby Hearst Castle, and the Channel Islands an hour to the south there was a lot to see and do on this trip.

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A Very Rare Sighting: Pacific Northwest Flying Squirrel

Well if you already knew we had flying squirrels in the Pacific Northwest then I’m impressed. But have you ever seen one? Much like the elusive Mountain Beaver I would probably have had to look it up if you asked me if flying squirrels lived here in Washington. It turns out we have two species, the recently discovered Humboldt Flying Squirrel, and the Northern Flying Squirrel.

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Birding the Channel Islands: Discover the Endemic Island Scrub-Jay

The Channel Islands just off the California coast near Ventura has been a bucket list destination for us for some time. Santa Cruz Island is home to the only endemic island bird in North America, the Island Scrub Jay. It is also home to another endemic species, the Island Fox.

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Backyard Barred Owl and Attack of the Cooper’s Hawk

A short post here to kick off the new year. Early this fall we were quite busy and didn’t have much time for birding or travel (which of course would involve birding!). And besides enjoying our backyard bird feeder visitors, we had a couple of unexpected birding opportunities.

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Hyas Lake, An Entry Point to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

This summer I took my son on our first overnight backpacking trip. He is nine years old so I searched for hikes that were shorter so that the focus could be on the camping and not the hiking. While I had originally booked a permit to camp by the ocean in Olympic National park, a day before our planned hike a weather pattern brought a ton of rain to the coast right on the historically driest day of the year in Western Washington.

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Whidbey Island Lizards and Bats

Just a short post here, we didn’t plan any specific birding adventures this trip to Whidbey. As you know we’ve explored South Whidbey parks as well as Crockett Lake near Coupeville. On this trip we just planned to relax and do some swimming but sometimes nature happens! As we were taking the dogs out a bat dropped out of a tree right on the lawn next to us.

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Taking the North Cascade Highway to the Methow Valley

It’s been a while since our last post, we’ve been busy this summer with camps and trips and theater classes but we’ve taken some good photos and are finally ready to write about them! Our first summer trip was to Winthrop Washington, if you’ve never visited the Methow Valley I urge you to make the trek.

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