Category: Birding

Well we’ve done a lot of articles, visited a lot of parks, wildlife refuges, as well as traveled out of the country to find birds and wildlife. So we felt it was time to finally list the best spots for birding in our home state of Washington. We’ve got our work cut out for us to do the same for other PNW states as well as Canada but we’ll get to it! As for this list we’ll start with our six favorite spots but may come back later to update if we feel the need to add more.

We finally took our first visit to the popular Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and were welcomed by many Rufous Hummingbirds who have migrated north for the season! Ridgefield is just north of Vancouver (Washington not BC), and is nestled next to the Columbia River where a broad wetland area exists both on the Washington and Oregon side of the river.

No I’m not talking about Snowbirders returning from Arizona, though I’m sure there are plenty of those as well. Spring has fully arrived and with Spring time weather we get bird migration! While the Puget Sound area may not be a hot bed for migration bird viewing we still get our spring and fall stop overs. With some sunny weather we headed down to the Willow Creek Fish Hatchery and the Edmonds Marsh to enjoy the day and see what birds would be out.

A trip to the Skagit Flats in winter is a must though the Skagit Valley is beautiful year round. But winter is a great time to see the Short-eared Owls, Bald Eagles, and Northern Harriers.

Port Townsend is a wonderful little town for a day trip from Seattle or a weekend visit any time of year. It is located right at the tip of a peninsula and has an amazing waterfront facing the entrance to the Puget Sound.

Port Townsend is a wonderful little town for a day trip from Seattle or a weekend visit any time of year. It is located right at the tip of a peninsula and has an amazing waterfront facing the entrance to the Puget Sound.

Every spring and summer we notice a few nests show up in our yard or neighborhood and this year was no different. Conveniently for us a pair of Dark-eyed Junco’s decided to place their nest in our hanging flower basket right outside our front door.

As summer closes I have been reminiscing at some of our adventures and I am reminded that some of our best memories happened only five minutes from our home. Living in the PNW, we are lucky to be surrounded by water and in the summers we get to spend time enjoying the scenery in a variety of ways.

We had made about three different trips to the Tri-Cities or Walla Walla area this spring, and each time had noticed on eBird there were always multiple Barn Owl sightings off of Dodd Road about 15 minutes past where the Snake River meets the Columbia.