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...

I was back on Fir Island yesterday hiking the dike at Wiley Slough.  In this wetland garden, I saw bouquets of blooming wildflowers and heard a symphony of birdsong.  All the parts of the orchestra were playing and every color of the spectrum was on display.  Once again, the Cedar Waxwings ( Bombycilla cedrorum ) were featured in starring roles.  The Black Twinberry ( Lonicera involucrata ) which lines the dike trail is fruiting now and these fruit-loving birds were enjoying the buffet.  Nearby, the Coastal Hedgenettle ( Stachys chamissonis ) served as table decoration:

For Memorial Day, a Cedar Waxwing ( Bombycilla cedrorum ) shows off his red wax spots.  The distinctive marks on the tips of the secondary wings give this group of birds their name.  This fellow was photographed in the wetlands of the Skagit River Delta on Fir Island, Washington.

One of our most beautiful birds is the Cedar Waxwing ( Bombycilla cedrorum ).  It can also be one of the most elusive.  I do see them in my yard, but very rarely.  Meanwhile, out on Fir Island, the wild Pacific Crabapples ( Malus fusca ) along Wiley Slough are now fruiting abundantly.  They have attracted large numbers of Cedar Waxwings.  I have never seen such numbers in a single spot. Fir Island, Washington is actually the Skagit River delta.  Most of it is farmland, protected by a system of dikes and drainage sloughs.  We have visited the island before to see concertizing  Song Sparrows  and flocks of Snow Geese . The Skagit State Wildlife Recreation Area at Wiley Slough is amicably shared by hunters, birders, photographers, hikers, dog trainers and a lot of big, friendly dogs.  Here, the barrier dike was moved inland to restore salmon habitat.  The old spur dike has been left in place.  The "Spur D...