May 31 - June 13, 2006

• Up the coast, off Neah Bay, two separate pairs of humpback whales were seen on May 21, as reported on the Orca Network website (http://www.orcanetwork.org/sightings/map.html#recent). The first pair, which included at least one male, delighted viewers for more than a half-hour with much breaching, fin-slapping and waving. The other pair consisted of one female and one calf.

• Nisqually Wildlife Refuge in Thurston County will offer a "Wildlife Photography Walk" on Saturday, June 3, from 8:00 a.m. until noon. 

• Lincoln County: peregrine falcons nesting near Coffeepot Lake and at least one bird active in the Lincoln Cliffs area. Prairie falcon pairs were found in the Hawk Creek, Sylvan Lake, Downs Road and Bob's Lake areas. Bighorn sheep were surveyed in the Lincoln Cliffs area, and in the Sterling Valley area to the west.

June 1-14, 2005

• A great egret was spotted recently at Davis Slough on Camano Island. Great egrets aren't common in western Washington, although there is a wintering population along the lower Columbia River and up the coast to Grays Harbor. Egrets have brilliant white plumage and stalk through shallow water and dry fields for fish, amphibians, rodents and insects.

• Among the sightings on a day trip up Mount Baker Highway east of Glacier in Whatcom County  were a handful of blue grouse, including males that were making low-frequency drumming calls in search of a mate.

• A flock of seven ibises at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge has been attracting the attention of an increasing number of birders in recent days. Standing 19-26 inches tall with a wingspan of nearly three feet, the brown, hook-billed visitors make quite a spectacle grubbing in the marshes for frogs and small fish.  Most of the birds are white-faced ibises, , but one of those seven waterbirds has recently been identified a glossy ibis, the first of its kind ever seen in the Evergreen State.

• Speaking of firsts, the six transient killer whales that arrived Jan. 24 in Hood Canal have now stayed in one place longer than any of their kind on record.  This length of stay be transients has never been documented anywhere in the world.  Could it be the fine dining that has kept them here this long? Steve Jeffries, a WDFW marine mammal biologist, estimates that each animal has consumed about one harbor seal per day since arriving four months ago. For updates on the "Slippery Six," see the Orca Network website. 

• The same shad run that are keeping anglers busy offer wildlife watchers an impressive sight from the underwater fish windows at Bonneville Dam.

• Vancouver Lake recently sported about 100 western grebes with at least a couple of Clark's grebes in the group. 

• Seen at Ridgefield National Wildlife refuge: western wood-pewees, willow flycatchers and yellow-headed blackbirds. Baby coots and pied-billed grebes are beginning to show now. At the railroad crossing east of the entrance bridge, there were a couple of red-breasted sapsuckers, and lots of Bullock's orioles and black-headed grosbeaks.

• The sixth-annual Backyard Wildlife, Bird and Plant Fair is this weekend (June 4-5) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Firwood Wholesale Nursery, 8403 W. Burroughs Rd., just south of Deer Park. This rain-or-shine event features WDFW's Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary program and the WSU/Spokane County Master Gardeners.

• A great local bird watching spot will be featured at the Reardan Mule Days festivities on Saturday, June 4 - Reardan's Audubon Lake, a 277-acre wetland just off Hwy. 2 in Reardan, west of Spokane, is home to many waterfowl and shorebird species, plus other wildlife.  Look for the project booth at Mule Days in the streets of Reardan. 

• Spokane residents are likely to see suburban-wandering moose now as cows move down to the Spokane River system's riparian areas to give birth to calves. Nursing mothers need good water sources, WDFW biologists explain. But the movements sometimes mean that older offspring that have been following Mom around all year are kicked out of the family unit to make room for the newcomers. The wanderings of those yearling moose, as well as cows with new calves, can provide unexpected wildlife watching. View these big animals from afar and confine dogs to avoid problems.

• Glimpses of river otters can be had at Conconully Lake and Reservoir in Okanogan County, but bring a fishing pole instead of binoculars. Otters there have figured out stringers of fish make easy meals. The phenomenon is new to Conconully, but not surprising since otter populations are healthy in the Sinlahekin watershed. 

• The wetlands of the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Yakima County are hosting a variety of nesting waterfowl and shorebirds now, including avocets, stilts and phalaropes. Surrounding irrigated agricultural lands support some birds, too, including bobolinks and a barn owl that was recently noted by one local birder.

May 26 - June 8, 2004

• A pair of purple martins set up house in a nest box near the Edmonds public fishing pier. North America's largest swallow, purple martins can be found feeding on insects over large water bodies, including Puget Sound.

• A group of transient orcas showed up in Dyes Inlet the third week of May. The recent visitors, like those that spent a month last year in Hood Canal, were more partial to seals and sea lions, traveling from as far away as southeast Alaska. Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, theorized that the make-shift "pod" might have followed a group of Dall's porpoises into state waters. Hundreds of porpoises were spotted near Vashon Island in central Puget Sound about the same time. In any case, the transients disappeared from Dyes Inlet May 20, two days after their arrival, and haven't been seen since. 

• The same shad run that's keeping anglers hopping offers wildlife watchers an impressive sight from the underwater fish windows at Bonneville Dam. Summer-run steelhead and chinook salmon are also part of the procession headed upriver. 

• Recent warm weather brought a variety of reptiles out by mid-May to bask in the sun. Sightings include a western fence lizard, alligator lizard, rattlesnake, garter snake, racers, western pond turtle, western painted turtle and a ring-necked snake.

• WDFW biologist Debbie Milks reports that juvenile burrowing owls should be coming out of their dens in the Othello area of Adams County now. "You can find some of these dens under concrete irrigation pipes alongside some of the smaller side roads east of Othello."

May 28 - June 10, 2003

• Resident orcas and gray whales are being spotted throughout northern Puget Sound. Grays have been spotted at the southern tip of Whidbey Island, while the resident J-Pod has been seen cruising throughout the San Juan Islands. For the latest in whale sighting news, check out the Orca Network website on the Internet. 

• This weekend (May 31 and June 1) is Vancouver's annual Sturgeon Festival, an opportunity to enjoy free displays and activities focused on the Columbia River ecosystem and its primitive inhabitant. The festival, sponsored by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the City of Vancouver, runs from noon to 4 p.m. both days at the Water Resources Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way in Vancouver.  For more information contact Olaf Langness at (360) 906-6741 or Bev Walker at (360) 696-8478. 

• The fourth-annual Backyard Bird and Plant Fair is May 31-June 1 at the Firwood Nursery just south of Deer Park in northern Spokane County. This popular event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, rain or shine, is a good chance to learn about WDFW's Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program, and how you can landscape your property to attract birds and other animals.

• The east side of the Cascades, with its more open country, provides some of the best butterfly watching in the state. Just look for flowers in open spaces and sunshine and you're bound to see skippers, monarchs, swallowtails, even "painted ladies." WDFW's Oak Creek Wildlife Area, just northwest of Yakima, has a variety of open habitats and wildflowers that attract butterflies, including asters, fleabanes, lupines, and penstemons. Purple, white and yellow flowers of many kinds, wild and domestic, seem to be the most attractive colors to butterflies. Moisture also attracts butterflies, so check out wet sand, gravel and mud. 

May 29 - June 11, 2002

• Osprey are also putting on a show for motorists driving along the Columbia River from Vancouver up river to the White Salmon area. Keep an eye out for river channel markers; in some areas nearly every channel marker is topped with an osprey nest. 

• Mountain goat nannies and kids might be spotted at the Flume Creek Viewing Area in the northwest corner of Pend Oreille County (off the road to Crawford State Park, just north of Metaline); best times to see goats on the cliffs and ledges of Linton Mountain above Flume Creek are usually mornings, evenings and overcast days at this time of year.

• The peregrine falcon pair at Coffeepot Lake in Lincoln County appear to be very busy hunting small birds, probably to feed hatchlings in their nest up on the tallest cliff above the lake's northwest side. WDFW wildlife biologist Dana Base says that boat fishers on Coffeepot have the best chance of seeing these magnificent birds of prey, along with the area's abundant ducks, grebes, and pelicans. 

May 30 - June 13, 2001

• In the Cowlitz Wildlife Area, black-tailed deer have finished shedding winter coats and are now sporting bright red summer hair. Bucks have begun antler growth, most seen recently have two to five inches of new velvet antler. Elk antler growth is further advanced, with substantial development of beams and lower tines. River otters have been visible at Swofford Pond, offering a quality viewing experience. This continues to be an excellent area to observe ospreys foraging as well.

• It's moose watching "season" in northeastern Washington where cow moose are giving birth to calves. It's not the new moms and babies that you'll necessarily see, however, but last year's crop of yearling moose who have been following mom around for the past year and are now kicked out of the family unit to fend for themselves. Since moose in many areas seem to prefer lower-lying riparian or streamside areas for calving, these 300-plus-pound yearlings are often found wandering in areas close to people. 

• The Columbia Basin is bird watching heaven at this time of year, with thousands of acres of public lands, and much more private agricultural land, playing host to millions of breeding birds. Look now for baby birds of many species – little red-headed coots paddling after their jet-black parents across the water, muddy brown young blackbirds trying out their wings in the marsh, fuzzy-headed little burrowing owls waiting for a meal from mom at the mouth of their burrow in the shrub-steppe, pheasant chicks that look like eggs on legs running through the grass, and common nighthawks sweeping the fading dusk sky for insects to feed their nestlings.
  

May 31 - June 13, 2000

• Be on the lookout for bald eagles and osprey now nesting on the Pend Oreille River or spotting bobolinks around the Cusick Valley area. The bald eagle nest south of Newport's Selkirk High School is active and affords good viewing as well.

June 3-16, 1999

• While wildflowers are blooming, this is the time to look for butterflies on South Puget Sound area prairie grasslands. More than 97 percent of this important natural prairie has been lost to development, but the remaining remnants are home to some 18 species of butterflies including the Mardon skipper.

  Best prairie grasslands to visit are:
• Thurston County's Glacial Heritage Preserve
• Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve
• Scatter Creek Wildlife Area.
  

June 14-27, 2006

• Birdwatchers around the region are seeing brown pelicans, some in unlikely places. The large birds, with a 6-foot wingspan and immense bill, would be expected along coastal areas from Ocean Park in Pacific County, where birders reported seeing groups in the hundreds, to Cape Alva near Neah Bay.

• Spokane; June is the season of wandering moose in this region. Traditionally, cow moose seem to move closer to waterways to give birth to new calves at this time. "The yearlings or two-year-olds that have been following Mom around are suddenly left to make it on their own,"

• Butterfly watching is in full gear, especially at WDFW's Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in Okanogan County. The 14,000-acre area, with its rich diversity of habitat and plant types, has at least 75 species of butterflies confirmed present and another 30 or 40 species highly probable. Swallowtails, whites, hairstreaks, blues, true brushfoots and spread-wing skippers are the earliest spotted, with fritillaries, satyrs and others seen as summer advances. Now that the earlier flooding has subsided and roads are open, it's a good time to plan a butterfly trip to the Sinlahekin.

June 15-28, 2005

• Birders on the saltchuck identified a solitary Clark’s grebe hanging out with an estimated 215 western grebes on Port Gardner Bay north of Everett. 

• WDFW’s WildWatch cams are providing great close-up images of fast-growing trio of juvenile great blue herons in a Kenmore heronry, and a pair of bald eagles in a nest in Kent. Check out all the action at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/index.html on the Internet.

• WDFW biologist Kelly McAllister was recently hiking on the Nisqually River when he came upon a colony of bank swallows nesting in an eroded riverbank. "It appears they are quite rare breeders in western Washington. I know this is the first colony I’ve ever seen on this side of the Cascade.” He also reported finding western toads in a logjam on the Nisqually.

• Visitors to the Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge can see a host of birds in early summer, including turkey vultures, osprey, bald eagles, sharp-shinned, cooper’s, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks, a half-dozen species of flycatcher and many more. The refuge is south of the town of Glenwood in western Klickitat County on the Camas Prairie

• WDFW’s Swanson Lakes (E. WA) Wildlife Area Manager Juli Anderson reports lots of baby birds out and about, including newly hatched killdeer skittering around the ground on stilt legs. She also notes seeing everything from garter and bull snakes to mule deer and wildflowers in bloom, including wild onion, lupine, larkspur, flax, yarrow and more.

• WDFW’s Oak Creek Wildlife Area and surrounding public lands are good spots to look for Williamson’s sapsuckers and Lewis', white-headed and pileated woodpeckers. Golden eagles are also a good bet in that area. 

• An osprey pair is using the Wenas Lake area.
  

June 9-22, 2004

• Bald eagles are a fairly common site throughout the region, but a group of 75 concentrated in one area near the Swinomish Channel near the community of LaConner caught birders by surprise.

• The eagles have landed along the Seabeck Highway, staging their annual show for observers at the Big Beef Creek estuary in Kitsap County. Arriving as usual around Memorial Day, bald eagles can be seen scuffling for eels and bullheads - and later, salmon - before dispersing in mid-summer. The competition is fierce right now, requiring the feeding eagles to repel constant dive-bombing raids by ever-present crows. One contributor to the Tweeters website counted 46 eagles at the site during the extreme low tides earlier this month, about half of them juveniles and sub-adults. She also counted 32 great blue herons, which line up in the shallows of the estuary for their share of the action. The Big Beef estuary is located off the Seabeck Highway, between Seabeck Marina and Lone Rock Store. Look for a wide-open area with an earthern causeway and a bridge across the tideflats. Chuck Gibilisco, with WDFW, recommends staying in your vehicle to watch, or at least avoid slamming, car doors, which can startle the eagles when they're trying to feed.  

  Meanwhile, butterflies throughout the region are taking advantage of warm days to fly about in search of nectar sources and mates. Many species are on the wing right now including western tailed blues, tiger swallowtails, red admirals, mylitta crescentspots and margined whites. Look for butterflies almost anywhere that's sunny. Open meadows and clearcuts surrounded by forest make for especially good viewing opportunities.

• Spring offers a wide variety of wildlife viewing opportunities on and near the Shillapoo Wildlife Area where bald eagles, osprey, kestrels and other birds of prey can be seen perched or diving for their catch throughout the area.

• Recent monitoring of the Vredenburgh Bluebird Nestbox Trail on North Wenas Road showed that 36 more bluebirds have fledged, bringing the year's total to 64. Tallies also showed 129 eggs and 245 nestlings, plus 15 females on nests, probably incubating more eggs. Second nests have appeared in a few of the boxes that had earlier success. A white-breasted nuthatch has reclaimed a nest box where an earlier nest failed, evidently hoping for better results this time around. Tree swallows are interested in two boxes while a pair of mountain chickadees may have started a new nest over an old fledged bluebird nest.
  

June 11-24, 2003

• Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area in Lincoln County is the scene of many mule deer does with newly-born fawns and killdeer pairs with newly-hatched chicks. 

• Baby wildlife to be enjoyed from afar right now include the osprey chicks in a nest near the Yakima River between the Selah exits off Interstate 82. Flights of white pelicans continue to be enjoyed throughout the Yakima Valley. 

June 12-25, 2002

• The eagles have landed along the Seabeck Highway, staging their annual show for observers at the Big Beef Creek estuary in Kitsap County. In past years, as many as 39 bald eagles have been reported at the site, arriving around Memorial Day and remaining until the salmon disperse in mid-summer. More than a dozen young eagles have been spotted this year, testing their wings as their parents look on from the treetops. The competition is fierce right now for eels and bullheads, requiring the feeding eagles to repel constant dive-bombing raids by ever-present crows. Long-legged great blue herons also line up in the shallows of the estuary for their share of the action. The Big Beef estuary is located off the Seabeck Highway, between Seabeck Marina and Lone Rock Store. Look for a wide-open area with an earthern causeway and a bridge across the tideflats. Chuck Gibilisco, with WDFW, recommends staying in your vehicle to watch, or at least avoid slamming your car door which startles the eagles when they're trying to feed. 

• You might also consider a stop at Foulweather Bluff. One birder recently reported seeing a flock of 75 to 1000 surf scoters performing aerial maneuvers over the Nature Conservancy property in the area. Other species common there at this time of year are the common loon and the pigeon guillemot. 

June 13-26, 2001

• (North Puget Sound) A highlight anticipated this summer is the once-a-decade influx of painted lady butterflies from California, says Potter. The painted ladies, which cannot survive year-round in the cool temperatures of Washington, were last seen in the Northwest in 1991, says Potter. Fast-flying, orange-and-black butterflies with a wingspan of about two inches each, painted ladies may be a common sight this year. "This is a phenomenon we won't see again for another seven to 10 years," Potter noted. 

• Birding is at its peak in Okanogan County, reports WDFW wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin, and WDFW's Methow Valley Wildlife Area hosts over 100 bird species, from blue grouse to mountain bluebirds. 
• The multi-use trail on the Big Valley Ranch portion of the Methow is a good spot to see riparian species such as herons, kingfishers, wrens and warblers. 
• Canyon areas of the Methow have a number of golden eagle nest sites, along with some very interesting geological formations. 
• The Sinlahekin Wildlife Area further north is another hot birding spot, says Fitkin, particularly the riparian habitat between the area headquarters and Blue Lake. 
• Fitkin also notes that access to the Hart's Pass area is early this year, due to low snowpack. Hart's Pass is well known for its wildflower displays and associated butterfly species. 
• Hoary marmots have finally come out of winter hibernation and are also enjoying the wildflowers and other edibles in the mountain meadows. 
• Other watchable wildlife species in the area are mountain goats, black bears, and mule deer, many with young in tow. These animals need to be given a wide berth and enjoyed from a distance. 

• WDFW regional wildlife program manager Lee Stream reports that osprey nests along the Yakima River (Selah to Granger) are now full of young birds being fed continuously by their parents. Great blue heron colonies along the same stretch are now in full production, too.

• The Yakima-Ellensburg Canyon offers bighorn sheep viewing along the upper stretches, Stream says. Rams can be viewed coming to water frequently and ewes with lambs can be seen on the hillsides, mostly on the west side of the river north of Umtanum Creek. 

• WDFW's Oak Creek Wildlife Area Manager John McGowan reports that there is an active Golden eagle nest with one fledgling that is easily observable with the use of binoculars by motorists travelling westbound from Yakima on Highway 12. McGowan advises parking at the west end of a large pulloff on a curve 1.5 miles west of the wildlife area headquarters on Highway 12. With binoculars, scan south across the Tieton River and locate a very large dead tree (snag) on the skyline. From the snag, drop down at seven o'clock to the cliff-face and locate the nest below an overhanging rock ledge. Call McGowan at Oak Creek, (509) 653-2390, for more information. 

• WDFW habitat biologist Ken Bevis reports that high- country hiking and wildlife viewing opportunities are open early this year with the low snow pack. Divide Ridge west of Yakima or Bethel Ridge above Rimrock Lake are in bloom with wildflowers and butterflies that are normally associated with spring in lower elevations.
  

June 14-27, 2000

• This is also the perfect time of year to spot baby moose; they've been seen in the Spokane River area and other parts of the region, so be on the lookout, especially for protective and potentially dangerous mother moose. 

• Birdwatchers may want to head to the great blue heron rookery on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land along the Snake River in Whitman County (north side of the Snake River between Clarkston and Steptoe Canyon Road); there are at least six nests with young adults in residence.
  

June 16-30, 1999

• The warm, sunny days of early summer are a great time to watch any number of the hundreds of species of butterflies found throughout Washington. Just look for flowers in open spaces and sunshine and you'll probably see adult butterflies. Look in parks, cemeteries, vacant lots, yards and gardens. In the country look in meadows, fallow fields, pastures, railroad beds, ski slopes, and other clearings that provide low ground cover. Shorelines, dunes, beaches, deserts, prairies, bogs, marshes, swamps, open plateaus, canyon bottoms, ridges and alpine slopes are also likely spots.

• The best nectar plants for butterflies are asters, fleabanes, daisies, thistles, dogbanes, buckwheats, penstemons, wild cherries, mints, milkweed, lilacs and butterfly bush. Purples, whites and yellows seem to be the most attractive colors to butterflies. Moisture also attracts butterflies, so check out wet sand, gravel and mud. Some species gather at wet spots on hot days and provide some of the best butterfly watching and photographing.

• In Western Washington, the best butterfly watching is usually from May to September. In eastern Washington the season begins in April and ends in October. July and August are the times to scout out the alpine meadows in search of butterflies. Although some species are active on warm evenings, most butterfly activity is between 9 a.m. & 4 p.m.

• Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park and the Sunrise and Paradise areas in Mount Rainier National Park provide easy access for high-mountain butterflies. Hart's Pass Road to the boundary of the Pasayten Wilderness Area in north central Washington's Okanogan County is more of a trek but is also good butterfly habitat. The riparian areas in the canyons near Leavenworth and Yakima are some favorites of butterfly watchers. Tumwater Canyon, upstream on the Wenatchee River, and Icicle Canyon, upstream from the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery, are not only good butterfly spots but also great places to see spawning salmon.