[Tweeters] Skagit County Upriver Trip Report

[Tom Benedict]

The eagles which normally come to the Skagit must have read about the Kokanee in Lake Coeur d’Alene and headed east.

Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA


> On Jan 4, 2024, at 00:12, <ronpost4 at gmail.com> <ronpost4 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

> Jim,

> I am a current volunteer with the forest service bald eagle watch stewardship program on that part of the Skagit. This winter is a year (as happens in the odd years) that the winter chum run is down. Plus. for reasons not clear, it has declined overall for nearly a decade. So unlike past years when hundreds of migratory eagles (from Canada and Alaska) gathered there, it is down to dozens.

> I recommend that people stop by our table in Howard Miller Steelhead Park at Rockport any Saturday or Sunday until we finish the season late in January. We have eagles in our scopes most of the day and our forest service supervisors there know a great deal about all the fish and birds in the area.

> Ron Post

>  

>  

> From: jimbetz at jimbetz.com <mailto:jimbetz at jimbetz.com>

> Sent: Wednesday, January 3, 2024 8:33 PM

> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit County Upriver Trip Report

>  

> Hi,

>  

>    We drove upriver today to see what the situation is with Bald Eagles

> and other birds.  We went from Burlington to as far as Marblemount

> (yes, some of you don't consider some/all of that trip "upriver") and

> the trip included going up the Sauk and Cascade drainages and both

> sides of the Skagit between Concrete and Marblemount.

>    We saw eagles - but not many and no large groups ... a single eagle

> here and there (almost always perched on a tree with a view of the

> water).  We saw fewer Red-tailed Hawks but still a few.  We were not

> looking for the smaller birds and did not note any of them - including

> Corvids and Passerines.

>    We did not see any deer or elk - but weren't expecting them.  No bear,

> coyote, or wolf.  No squirrels or chipmunks.

>    We didn't stop for long, rarely got out of the car, didn't hike.  So

> what we did see was strictly the highlights.

>  

>    We did share an Excellent cheeseburger at the Cascade Burgers in

> Concrete.

>                                                          - Jim


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