Saturday January 25th – La Conner Birding Showcase!
SKAGIT BIRDS HAVE ARRIVED!
You know winter is almost here when the farm fields surrounding La Conner turn white – with Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans.
The birds annually migrate southward by the tens of thousands from nesting grounds in Siberia and Alaska. The Skagit Valley is one of their major wintering grounds, with more than 50,000 birds typically stopping over between as early as October and the La Conner Daffodil Festival in March. This year the Snow Geese arrived the first week of October.
2020 La Conner Birding Showcase
The Skagit Valley Birds of Winter Experience features the 2020 La Conner Birding Showcase. 
Book your lodging now for Saturday, January 25th. Sue Cottrell has been watching and monitoring hawks for over 30 years. As a longtime volunteer in studying birds of prey, Sue will share photos and insights into her work as the keynote speaker of the 2020 La Conner Birding Showcase. During her presentation, Sue will discuss the 16 types of raptors that can be spotted in northwest Washington, such as gyrfalcons, prairie falcons and northern goshawks.
Located at Maple Hall. Admission is $5 for adults. Children 16 and under are free.
10 am – 3 pm Educational and artistic vendors:
Airstrike (Brad Felger)
Artist: Ed Flitcroft
Birdland Art
Fine Feathered Friends
La Conner Tea Co
Laurel Mundy Illustration
Nancy Crowell Photography
North Cascades Institute
NW Swan Conservation Association
Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum
Seaport Books
Skagit Audubon
Skagit Land Trust
Washington Native Plant Society
Wild Birds Unlimited
Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation
4 pm – Key Note Speaker: Susan Cottrell “Introduction to Raptors of NW Washington”
Thank you to our event Sponsors: Fine Feathered Friends, La Conner Pub & Eatery, Pacific NW Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum & Quantum Construction
Places to Spot Raptors and Snow Geese
Samish Wildlife Area Unit, 12296 Samish Island Road, Bow; 360-445-4441; wdfw.wa.gov/places-to-go/wildlife-areas/samish-wildlife-area-unit. About 445 acres of agricultural fields and wetlands adjacent to Padilla Bay in northwest Skagit County.
Fir Island Farm Reserve Wildlife Area Unit, 15802 Fir Island Road, Mount Vernon; 360-445-4441; wdfw.wa.gov/places-to-go/wildlife-areas/fir-island-farm-reserve-wildlife-area-unit. A game reserve with nearly 300 acres of restored intertidal estuary and managed agricultural land in southwest Skagit County.
Kestrel Nest Boxes
Volunteers are deploying 26 American kestrel nest boxes primarily in Skagit county. If you’ve spotted kestrels on your property and would like to have a nest box, email buteoresearch@gmail.com.
