Wild Fidalgo

Imagine a place, a small island perhaps, where much of the wildlife of a region can be found.  What would it be like to experience a dozen or more wildlife encounters in just a couple hours of exploring?  Such a microcosm of the Pacific Northwest exists and it's a stone's throw from where I live.  You can literally walk a mile and find forest, wetland, beaches, tide pools, driftwood fields, salt marsh, rocky balds, grass meadows and a pocket estuary.  It also happens to be a significant Native American cultural site.  All of these things can be found in a 96 acre/39 hectare preserve just waiting to be explored. The Kukutali Preserve opened June 16th, 2014.  Over the past three months I have made several visits.  During this short time and in this small site, I have acquired an amazing collection of wildlife sightings and photographs.  To reveal what an amazing place this is, I decided to post them all at once. Along the Road From the par...

The Spur Dike along Wiley Slough in the Skagit River delta has become one of my favorite spots for exploring.  There always seems to be something new to discover there.  Maybe this is a benefit of the Washington "Discover" Pass .  On my last visit a week ago, I came upon this group of long-billed wading birds in the marshes south of the dike.  At the time, I wasn't sure what they were.  This was a busy, active bunch, about a dozen in all, moving quickly as they probed the shallow waters with those specialized bills.  The moved along in unison like a troupe of caffeinated dancers. With bright morning sun, the lighting and shadows were terrible for both photos and for identification of the birds.  When I got home, I hunted through my bird books and internet sites to try and determine what they were.  With some reservation, I have identified them as Greater Yellowlegs ( Tringa melanoleuca ) .  As usual, please correct me if I am wrong. U...

It's neither the name of a Viking chieftain nor a town in New York State.  The Greater Yellowlegs ( Tringa melanoleuca ) is a wading shorebird related to Sandpipers and Curlews.  They winter along the Pacific Northwest Coast and are common migrants in Washington's lowland wetlands and salt marshes.  According to BirdWeb , a few may remain in this area through the winter.  The solitary bird was spotted this past weekend in Wiley Slough in the Skagit River delta.  Lesser Yellowlegs ( T. flavipes ) are smaller, seasonal migrants, but unknown in Washington this time of year. This part of Wiley Slough is outside the barrier dike which protects the farms and homes on Fir Island .  It is open to the sea and the water levels here fluctuate with the tides.  At the time, the tide was outgoing and the mudflats were exposed.  The dormant vegetation includes cattails and other salt marsh grasses.  This is part of a restoration project  (.pdf...