Winter is a great time to bird watch at state parks in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca

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Winter is a great time to break out the binoculars and check out the bird action at state parks in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Many Washington state parks are a sanctuary for migratory and year-round bird populations. Cold, clear days on the Olympic Peninsula draw all kinds of fowl to the water. So gather your camera and binoculars and let’s shake a tailfeather!

Common Loons

The total mileage of this day trip is just under 150 miles and about a 3.5-hour drive time. Get an early start and hit some or all of the stops in just one day, or make a weekend of it! Either way, some cool shots of beautiful birds would look great on the wall (or make great gifts)!

Sequim Bay State Park

Common Loons
The American wigeon is just one of the fancy floaters you’ll see around Sequim Bay. Photo courtesy of Skip Russell.

Start your day at Sequim Bay, and you may find yourself staying longer than you had planned. On the quiet waters just inside the Olympic rain shadow, this park is surrounded by many great bird-watching areas. Pick up some literature on bird watching and regional highlights, and see some great exhibits at the nearby Dungeness River Audubon Center.

Then head over to the park where you may see some Arctic terns fighting and fishing as they stop to feed on their 40,000-mile annual migration route.

This is also home to a wide variety of waddlers such as northern shovelers and wigeons. Spot golden plovers foraging in the grass. Turn your binoculars—and your ears—inland, and you might catch the red-breasted sap sucker tapping away in search of insects.

When you’re finally able to tear yourself away from this birder’s paradise, head on down the inside of the Peninsula along Highway 101 until you swing north at Discovery Bay onto State Route 20.

Fort Worden Historical State Park

The Brant is a relative of the Canadian goose.
Brants are ground-nesting Canadian goose relatives found at Fort Worden Historical State Park. Photo courtesy of Tom Talbot.

Brants take center stage at Fort Worden! Spot these small geese dabbling for their dinners all along the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet’s rocky shores. Keep an eye out for funny, long-billed whimbrels and fluffy sanderlings strutting and foraging for bugs and crabs among the rocks as they dash back and forth to the rhythm of the tides. Stop in at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center where you’ll learn even more about all the wonderful wildlife inhabiting the region, including really cool and kid friendly exhibits featuring inhabitants of our Northwest waters.

Then head up to the fort above and into the trees where you might catch a glimpse and an earful of little yellow pine siskins twittering as they fight for seeds.

Then it’s back onto Highway 20 southbound, then take a left turn onto Highway 19 (aka Rhody Drive), and follow the signs to Marrowstone Island on State Route 116.

Fort Flagler Historical State Park

Comorant
Watching cormorants fish in the waters off Fort Flagler is one of life’s pleasures. Photo courtesy of Cindy Cornett Seigle.

Stocky and darkly colored, the black turnstone doesn’t pack the flash of other shorebirds. But it’s a blast to watch them search for food on the rocky shores at Fort Flagler. Dashing here and there, they flip over pebbles (which gives them their name) to find insects and crabs. Watch them compete for turf along the surf with the dramatically plumed blackbellied plover!

Then set your sights on the horizon to spot cormorants and grebes diving for fish. Getting hungry? It’s just about lunchtime, so let’s backtrack to Highway 101 southbound and head down Hood Canal.

Dosewallips State Park

Lesser Scaup
Lesser scaups have some of the most formidable gizzards of any bird on the planet. Watch them fish for and swallow shellfish whole, like this one above. Photo courtesy of Tom Talbot.

Ducks lead the shorebird population at Dosewallips and are a delight to watch as you enjoy a picnic lunch. Pack your own, or stop in nearby Brinnon and bring it in to relax at one of the park’s sheltered tables. You might catch Eurasian and the more rare American wigeons dabbling in the salt marsh slough grasses.

See if you can spot lesser scaups diving for shellfish. Their gizzards are so powerful they can eat them shell and all!

Bring your binoculars on the alder-lined, .2-mile North Tidal Trail walk to the observation deck, and you may catch some majestic bald eagles fishing in the icy waters. Harbor seals are often sighted here, as well, and Roosevelt elk make the park a regular part of their herd migration. When you’ve had your fill of this great spot, head south on 101 again.

Potlatch State Park

Red Breasted Merganser
Red breasted and funky crested, mergansers prefer fishing in the salt water and diving in the marshes off Potlatch State Park. Photo courtesy of Ingrid Taylar.

Red-breasted mergansers are some funky-looking ducks, to be sure, and pretty and fun to watch as they bob on the Hood Canal waters. Keep your ears peeled for the eerie call of the common loon. These water birds only come ashore to breed. If you could see them under water, you might be amazed at the speed and dexterity of their submarine maneuvers as they pursue fish!

Search the foliage for red crossbills with their unique beaks and cute little fox sparrows kicking up sprays of leaves in search of bugs on the forest floor. Noisy, bossy and bright Steller’s jays are common sights in Potlatch’s tree-lined north end.

Now let’s swing back onto 101 and then turn to the east on State Route 106.

Twanoh State Park

Brown Creeper
Tiny brown creepers are a bit tough to spot, but you can listen for them as they chirp loudly among the tall trees. Watch as they spiral up the trunks searching for bugs in the bark. Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC.

The warm Hood Canal waters and conifer forests at Twanoh State Park attract an avian extravaganza! Ruddy ducks dig bobbing about in the marshy areas near the gravel and oyster shell covered shore.

Noisy, boisterous red-necked grebes love the gentle waters here and compete fiercely for territory with the goldeneyes and iridescently plumed buffleheads.

Take a break in one of the rustic (and really cool) shelters built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and listen for tiny brown creepers chirping in the trees.

Just one last stop to go! Continue east on SR 106 until it hooks up with Hwy 3 in Belfair. Head south on SR 3 to Pickering Road, then take the Harstine Island Bridge.

Jarrell Cove State Park

Red throated Loon
Small, light and extremely striking — the red-throated loon is just one of the exquisite shorebirds you might spot on Harstine Island. Photo courtesy of the USFWS Pacific Region

End your day the island way! Surf scoters frequent the park and are a pleasure to watch dive in the shallows. If you’re lucky, you might spot the occasional red-throated loon during high tide.

At low tide, you’re sure to spot Bonaparte’s mew and other gull types lounging on the mudflats before retiring to nest in the trees. You can also access the park from the water. Jarrell Cove is on the Cascadia Marine Trail.