Birding the Northwest

Snow geese take flight, beginning their 3,000-mile spring migration to the arctic breeding grounds of Russia’s Wrangel Island. Photo by USFWS / Wikimedia commons.

Washington’s Fir Island Farms Reserve: A Viewing Site to Add to the Map

Perhaps not yet on most birders’ maps, Fir Island Farms State Fish and Wildlife Reserve, a unit of Skagit Wildlife Area in northwest Washington State’s Skagit Basin, is one to watch. Its claim to fame is its celebrated winter visitors: tens of thousands of snow geese. Here, these 5- to 6-pound snow-white geese, with recognizable

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North Carolina winter birds include crossbills and other species. (Photo: Creative Commons)

Oregon Bird Watching

Birding Oregon Along its rocky coast you’ll find black oystercatchers year round. In the winter, rock sandpiper and surfbird.  Head east into Mediterranean climate of the Willamette Valley, which boasts 420 bird species on its checklist. Farther east, climb the Cascades to find Lewis’s and white-headed woodpeckers, Clark’s nutcracker, Cassin’s finch and red crossbill. Look

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