Samish Flats
~12161 Samish Island Rd, Bow, WA 98232
(no actual address, please refer to diagram for exact locations)
Introduction
The Samish Flats is a hotspot for wintering birds, particularly raptors, waterfowl, and passerines. This is an area made up mostly of agricultural land and is near where the Samish River dumps into the Samish Bay, making for a unique and complex ecosystem. Make sure to stop by the small town of Edison while you’re in the area, it’s a great place to eat some oysters, and chat with fellow birding enthusiasts.
Wildlife Highlights
The Samish Flats is an excellent area to simply drive around in your car to spot birds in winter. If you’re looking for specific spots, check out the diagram below - I’ve compiled a list of areas that are near to each other, and worth stopping at.
My favorite area to walk around is part of the Skagit Wildlife Area otherwise known as the “Samish Unit”. It’s an area of 409 acres that the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife has purchased. Unlike many of the other areas that are private property (where you can only photograph/observe wildlife from your car in a pullout), you can actually explore the area on foot. Here is one of the places where you can watch the short-eared owls and northern harriers battle over territory.
The Short-Eared Owl can be seen during mornings and evenings, gliding over the fields looking for rodents. Fortunately for us, they’re one of the owls that hunt during daylight making it easier to see. They’re a gorgeous bird with a dome-like face and acute hearing.
Northern Harriers, also fly low to the ground looking for rodents in the same territory as the owls. Occasionally you can see them attacking each other over territory. When northern harriers spot their prey, they’ll often hover in one place for several seconds while in flight, before divebombing their meal. If the hunt was successful, they’ll often enjoy their meal on the ground.
There are plenty of other areas to stop the car and observe wildlife. For example, the Eagle Tree, or area #3 on the diagram below, is a big tree that can be completely covered in bald eagles during the winter. There can be 30+ eagles in the same tree, no one knows why they seem to prefer this tree in particular. It is on someone’s private land, but can fortunately be viewed easily from the road - the owner’s are used to people stopping.
If you’ve thoroughly visited the areas on the diagram, feel free to just drive around and explore the area by car. You can spend the entire day looking out amongst the fields and ditches and pulling over when you see something of interest. Remember, wildlife doesn’t adhere to property lines and you never know where they might show up.
Logistics
The Skagit Valley and Samish Flats are made up of mostly agricultural land. Much of it is private property, meaning most bird viewing will be done from the car. Thankfully there’s plenty of places to pull over with your binoculars and/or camera. Check out the diagram below for a few of my favorite spots, please note that areas 2, 3, and 4 are all pullouts. The best place to walk around would be area #1 since it is State Land (belonging to the WDFW) and open to the public, please note a Discover Pass is technically required to park here.
For more details on the Samish Unit Property, check out the WDFW Website.
For more information on how to get a Discover Pass, check out the Discover Pass Website.
Wildlife Sightings at the Samish Flats:
