Happy Bird Day

Today I would like to wish a very Happy Bird Day to two special people: First to my boyfriend's mom, Phyllis. This past Friday, Feb. 27th she turned 83! She is still an active little woman, and a huge fan of the birds! And today, March 2nd is the birthday of one of my best birding buddies, Sally Anne.

What better way to celebrate a Bird Day than to go on a little birding excursion? Well, that's exactly what Sally Anne and I did on Saturday. The main goal of the trip was to see the Bald Eagles that winter along the Skagit River near Marblemount, WA, to take advantage of the chum and coho salmon spawning. In the peak of the season, the river is lined with a spectacular congregation of hundreds of eagles. We knew it was the tail end of the season, and chances were pretty good that there wouldn't be very many eagles left, but we decided to take our chances. We saw two. Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but not many more than that.

Still, it was a highly successful trip-- We got to see lots of other exciting birds, including the other large migrating birds-- the Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans that congregate by the thousands in the open fields of the lower Skagit Valley. Plus, two of the eagles we did see were totally doing it in the top of the tallest tree! Eagle whoopie! Not a sight you get to see every day....

Highlights from the trip:

Erotic Eagles

Thousands of white Trumpeter Swans in green fields with gorgeous mountain backdrops (it was only partly cloudy all day, and no rain!)

Snow Geese as far as the eye could see...

The "Wizards of Ooze"

Juvenile Bald Eagle: Apparently, while Mama and Papa Eagle are gettin' it on in the tree, they send (not so) little Eggbert out into the field to catch some rodents....

If you'd like to wish someone a "Happy Bird Day", check out my selection of photo greeting cards made especially for that occasion in my Snail Mail Gallery, and my latest snail mail creation: SNOOKLETS!

What's a Snooklet?? You'll have to click on the link to find out....