When: 2026-2-15 Sunday, 8:30AM
Where: Blaine & Semiahmoo Spit
Weather: 43F, a sunny and warm day
eBird checklist: by trip leader Jeff Osmundson
Background
Trip organizer Colleen termed this “Spectacular Semiahmoo” due to the gorgeous view of Semiahmoo Bay against the backdrop of snow-draped Mount Baker. Indeed, on this beautiful and warm sunny day, the place, birds encountered, and the quality time spent with our birding community were all very memorable. I also love how our experienced members had planned to show us specific species in different locations, giving us the chance to “bump up” our lifers!
The trip
Our members enjoying the scenary in Blaine Harbor, looking towards Canada.
We stopped at 3 hotspots in the Blaine Harbor area. Here, local expertise proved to be crucial as our leader guided us to a small boat launch ( Milhollin Boat Launch) at a dead end road to locate a whimbrel (lifer for me!). This is something I wouldn’t have guessed on my own by seeing a dead-end sign and some industrial looking parking lot.
Along the walk to the Blaine Fishing Pier, we saw a mix of scoters, including the white-wing scoters on the right, getting very close to the walkway.
Since seabirds are usually quite far away, scopes are super helpful to get a better look at things. I am grateful for the generosity of our experienced members who not just graciously let us take a better view with their equipment, but also do a lot of adjustments and tracking to ensure we have interesting birds in view.
From Blaine, we moved to the Semiahmoo spit and explored both sides of it (the rougher seaside and the calmer bay side). Of particular interest was the bay side for the followings:
- the beginning of the spit has several groups of ducks (scaups, ruddy duck, etc.) dwelling very close to shore. It is possible to study their features even with naked eyes.
- at the end of the spit by the dock, you can view a busy group of double-crested cormorants taking off and landing continuously
- making a right turn at the dock and heading towards the marina, loons, grebes and harlequin ducks swim close to shore, again offering great opportunities to study them close
- along the marina breakwater, there is a huge population of cormorants dotting every possible inch of space, which are startled by the landing of a bald eagle.
- our experienced members found black turnstones near where the breakwater joined the land, which was another lifer for me!
Also nearby….
Since I usually drive over an hour to the field trips, I often combine nearby hotspots in a single visit. This time, due to the good timing (trip concluded at 3:30pm), I headed to the Samish River Wildlife Area Unit: East 90 for raptor viewing, with the hope of catching a glimpse of the elusive short-eared owl, which is usually active near dusk.
The Samish Flat is famous for the abundance of its waterfowl and raptor population in winter. In fact, the combination of Skagit Flats, Fir Island and Samish Flats areas are considered one of the top winter raptor viewing sites in the U.S.
Short-eared owls are a frequent visitor (or resident?) in East 90 but my previous attempts at both near sunset and midday yielded no sighting. This was our 3rd attempt in the same spot.
Eagles and hawks are often seen soaring above or perching in utility poles in Samish Flat during the winter season. Here, a red-tail hawk perches on a low mailbox along a county road, oblivious of passing traffic around. I first spotted it at the top of a STOP sign, and as if that wasn’t close enough, when I made a right turn to take a closer look, it actually hopped down to a mailbox!
Given that it was a Sunday, East 90 was surprising quiet with scattered cars parked on both the roadside and the designated parking lot. Shortly after arriving at 5pm, a short-eared owl darted out from the ditch near the road. We waited for around 45 minutes and did see another shortie in and out of the low shrubs into the field. What a good way to conclude a fruitful birding day!