We set out on Friday to go to Smith Island, the only place in the San Juan Islands that has a nesting colony of tufted puffins. Unfortunately, the weather was too windy to venture out of the protection of the islands. Smith Island is a few miles south of the San Juans in unprotected waters.… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – July 7, 2017
Tag: bird watching
Bird Blog – Smith Island Puffins – July 30, 2016
We had a beautiful sunny day for special bird trip to go see the elusive Tufted Puffins of the San Juan Islands.There is only one nesting colony left in the San Juan Archipelago, although there use to be several. Remote Smith Island, several miles… Continue reading Bird Blog – Smith Island Puffins – July 30, 2016
Bird Watching Cruise – 7-5-15 – Smith Island Puffins
On our final Bird Cruise for the season we went to Smith Island. Smith Island is the only place left in the San Juan Islands where the elusive Tufted Puffins nest and raise their young. It is a remote island and offers the birds an isolated nesting spot. Tufted Puffins usually have the same mate… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise – 7-5-15 – Smith Island Puffins
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… Continue reading First Bird Watching Cruise Of The Season – Sucia & Patos Islands
2015 Wings Over Water Festival in Blaine
We participated in the 13th Annual Wings Over Water Northwest Birding Festival in Blaine this year. The festival was originally known as the Brant Festival. Brants are a true “sea goose” and are found in large populations here in the winter. They nest and breed up in the Arctic. Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay are… Continue reading 2015 Wings Over Water Festival in Blaine
Bird Watching Cruise Report – August 2nd, 2014
<a href='http://whales web project management tools.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1767ss080214.jpg’ data-rel=”lightbox-gallery-19″> Our bird cruise last Saturday was clear weather and calm seas. We headed across Bellingham Bay to Viti Rocks, one of 84 National Wildlife Refuges in the San Juan Islands. Glaucous Wing Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots and all three species of Cormorants: Brandt’s, Pelagic and Double Crested. Some of… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – August 2nd, 2014
Bird Watching Cruise Report – July 5th, 2014
Our third bird cruise of the season was to go and see the Tufted Puffins on Smith Island. Smith Island is a 15 acre rocky island that is slowly eroding away because it is in the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In the winter, the winds and waves can come in from… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – July 5th, 2014
Bird Watching Cruise Report – June 7th and 8th, 2014
We had bird cruises this month on both Saturday and Sunday. Our Saturday trip was full, so we added a Sunday Cruise. On both days our trips were similar with bird sightings and our route remained identical. We traveled across Bellingham Bay and then turned north into Hale Passage between Lummi Island and the Lummi… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – June 7th and 8th, 2014
Bird Watching Cruise Report – May 3, 2014
Migrants of May (Photos courtesy of Jim Bachman) What a beautiful day we had two weeks ago out on the Salish Sea. Our travels started out on the South side of Bellingham out of Fairhaven. We crossed Bellingham Bay heading south. Here we encountered dozens of Bonaparte’s gulls in their full breeding plumage. They are… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – May 3, 2014
Bird Watching Cruise Report – July 27, 2013
We left the harbor on another wonderful summer day. We cruised to Chuckanut Bay to observe the nesting Pigeon Guillemots and the Glaucous-winged gulls. The Glaucous-winged gulls have chicks that are a ball of fluffy grey. Â Glaucous-winged gulls are the only gulls that stay here year round and nest here. The other gulls that we… Continue reading Bird Watching Cruise Report – July 27, 2013
