First Bird Watching Cruise Of The Season – Sucia & Patos Islands

The day was just right for bird watching. Calm seas and sunshine. We went up Hale Passage and crossed Rosario Strait to Sucia Island. Slowly cruising around the Finger Islands through Echo Bay, we saw a Pigeon Guillemot nesting colony here. On the eastern side of the bay, there was a large congregation of Harlequin Ducks. It was one of the largest flocks that many of us had ever seen. Heading north and rounding the northern tip of Patos Island gave us a great view of Mt. Baker with the lighthouse in the foreground. There were many harbor porpoise and harbor seals feeding in the tide rips. One of the harbor porpoise had a very small calf with her. Harbor porpoise are very boat shy, and they do not come close. However, we had a small pod come right next to the boat. We returned home on a different route and saw many different species of birds to add to our list. The nesting colonies that we observed were Pigeon Guillemots, Double Crested and Pelagic Cormorants, and Glaucous Wing Gulls. There was a pair of Black Oystercatchers at the same nesting spot that we observed last year; they tend to not nest in colonies.  Last season we were able to watch the chicks from incubation to almost fledging. We saw two Peregrine Falcon nests and a Bald Eagle’s nest. One of the parents was feeding the chicks.  One of our passengers was able to add five birds to her Life List.

Species List

Harlequin Duck

Surf Scoter

Brandt’s Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Peregrine Falcon

Great Blue Heron

Black Oystercatcher

Bonaparte’s Gull

California Gull

Caspian Tern

Glaucous-Winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Rhinoceros Auklet

Rock Pigeon

Belted Kingfisher

American/Northwest Crow

Tree Swallow

Violet-Green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Pacific Wren

White-Crowned Sparrow

American Goldfinch