November 1-14, 2006

• Large flocks of brown pelicans are putting on spectacular displays, diving into the bays along the ocean coast, according to Jack Smith, regional wildlife manager. "I saw some the other day out at Grays Harbor Wildlife Refuge and the Hoquiam sewage lagoon - both well-known bird-watching spots," he said. Smith said lots of pelicans migrate through this area between August and November and it's not unusual to see flocks of 30 to 40. Best times to look are medium-to-high tide from bridges across the rivers and bays, and also around the town of Westport

• Another group of 15 orcas was reported to the Orca Network (http://www.orcanetwork.org/sightings/map.html#recent) around Vashon Island and Point Defiance by several observers on Oct. 18 (members of K and L pods).

• Sprague Lake is hosting Bonaparte's and Thayer's gulls, red-breasted, common, and hooded mergansers, bufflehead, lesser scaup, redhead, and greater white-fronted, cackling, and snow geese. A birder also recently reported a single trumpeter swan and a Pacific loon on Sprague. Sheep Lake in the northwest corner of Whitman County also has a variety of waterfowl, including tundra swans, green-winged Teal, canvasback, American wigeon, and Canada geese

• Field trip yielded glimpses of snow, cackling, and white-fronted geese, western grebes, and bufflehead at Brook Lake; eared grebes, long-billed dowitchers, greater yellowlegs, and least sandpipers at Soap Lake; Barrow's and common goldeneyes at Lake Lenore; great egret and red-necked grebes at Alkali Lake; common loons at Blue Lake; and a lone surf scoter at Sun Lake.

October 27 - November 9, 2004

• From solitary birds to flocks of massive proportion - Skagit Wildlife Area Manager John Garrett says snow geese and trumpeter swans have also arrived in the region, with reports of birds scattered throughout Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties.  At the nearby Samish Flats, hundreds of shorebirds were seen - not only by birders, but by birds that hunt birds as well.  A pale merlin was busy making a meal out of an unlucky dunlin, while not far away large flocks of the diminutive shorebirds continued probing the mudflats for food.  Dunlin are one of Washington's most-common wintering shorebirds, often seen in flocks of 100 or more individuals that seem to move as a single organism as they fly from one feeding area to the next.  Birders at the Samish Flats also noted an adult peregrine falcon, no fewer than four rough-legged hawks and a gyrfalcon "pirating" prey from northern harrier hawks.

• Birders in the Everett area can enjoy an ample number of species at WDFW's Spencer Island Wildlife Area, where a pair of peregrine falcons and a solitary merlin have all been seen recently, along with more than 300 green-winged teal and more than 1,000 ruddy ducks.

• Birders also identified three varieties of grebe - western, red-necked and eared. Birders in the Point Roberts area topped the Spencer Island group's three-grebe mark by seeing four: The western, red-necked, horned and pied-billed.  Point Roberts birders also noted red-throated, Pacific and common loons, as well as Brandt's, double crested and pelagic cormorants.  The Point Roberts birders weren't cheated for sheer numbers, either, tallying an estimated 250 dunlin and 200.

• Chum salmon have begun to move up Kennedy Creek in southern Mason County, a sight that's hard to miss from the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. Staffed by the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group, the half-mile trail will be open Oct. 31 and every weekend in November from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most of the trail is ADA accessible. For more information, call (360) 754-6464 or see http://www.spsseg.org.

  At Capitol Lake in Olympia, a recent bird-watcher counted 154 American wigeons, 244 buffleheads, 22 grebes and 478 scaups, with one "grungy" redhead in the flock.

On Oct. 23 at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge there were numerous flocks of sandhill cranes, cackling geese and Canada geese, including about 30 "dusky" geese, according to a birder, who also counted 41 great egrets and spotted three river otter feeding on small fish on Rest Lake. Two tundra swans and hundreds of northern pintail also were visible at the lake.

Sea lions and other marine mammals can be seen, sometimes by the hundreds along the lower Columbia River, with numbers surging as fish runs enter the river, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Program Leader Robin F. Brown, who offers these sea lion observations:

• Two species-Steller and California sea lions-can be found in the lower Columbia. Stellers, the larger of the two, are gold- or silver-colored animals. California sea lions smaller, although they can reach weights of up to 1,000 pounds, and are distinguished by their brown or black color and barking. 
• While there can be 300-400 Stellers on the tip of the river's South Jetty much of the year, they are far less common in the river itself. On a few occasions small groups of Stellers (six-12 at a time) have been seen foraging for smelt up to the Cathlamet and Wallace areas, and single animals have made their way up to Bonneville in the spring. 
• There can also be 300-400 California sea lions on the South Jetty from fall through spring, but these animals also venture into the river and up to Bonneville Dam and Willamette Falls by the hundreds. They move into the river looking for smelt and other easy pickings and then remain there and move upstream with the salmon and steelhead in winter and spring.  From fall through spring we may have anywhere from 500-1,000 California sea lions moving in and out of the lower river. 
• We know from tagging in Astoria that many of these animals will move out of the river and on up to Puget Sound or Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island for months in the winter.  Some may stop by the Columbia River again in the spring on their way south to California breeding grounds. 
• Winter counts conducted in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia indicate that roughly 10,000 California sea lions may move north of California each year to feed at various locations in the Pacific Northwest. Estimates place the U.S. California sea lion population at nearly 300,000.

• Whitetail deer bucks are showing signs of breeding as the peak of their rut in mid-November draws near. Watch for hoof scrapes on the ground under trees where they practice antler-jostling with low-laying branches, and notice their bossy behavior around groups of does and fawns.

  Motorists on roads along the Columbia River in northcentral Washington are getting too close a view of bighorn sheep these days.  The stretch of Highway 97-A on the west side of the river between Wenatchee and Entiat has been particularly dangerous for motor vehicle collisions with bighorns.  Perleberg said two ewes were recently killed in one collision on that stretch of highway, and over the past two years many more sheep have been lost. "It's a great area to view sheep in late fall and winter.
  
  

  Latest aerial waterfowl surveys of the Columbia Basin showed large numbers of pelicans in multiple locations, which biologists say is further indication of their wide distribution this year. Large grebes, many of which were obviously Clark's grebes, were also seen on Moses Lake and other locations. For a full account and updates of the waterfowl survey, see the WDFW website on the Internet.
  
  

October 29 - November 11, 2003

• Stormy weather has brought lots of waterfowl into the region, including an estimated 30,000 snow geese to the agricultural areas near the mouth of the Skagit River. The saltwater areas of the Skagit delta are also full of waterfowl. Biologists conducting aerial surveys recently counted 52,000 ducks in Samish Bay, 32,000 in Padilla Bay and about 18,000 in Skagit Bay. Wigeon and pintail were the most common ducks seen.

• Chum salmon have begun to move up Kennedy Creek in southern Mason County, a sight that's hard to miss from the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. Staffed by the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group, the half-mile trail will be open every weekend in November from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most of the trail is ADA accessible. For more information or group reservations, contact Kirsten at the Mason Conservation District (360) 427-9436; 1-800-527-9436; or kcworkman@attglobal.net.

• During a Vancouver Audubon outing along the Columbia River from Washougal to Maryhill State Park, the highlight of the trip was the spectacle of large numbers of Lewis' woodpeckers along old Highway 8, just past the Catherine Creek Nature Conservancy site. In the oaks just before Balch Road dozens of the woodpeckers were visible in the air. Abundant numbers of Lewis woodpeckers also were seen at the Lyle-Balch Cemetery, and on Balch Pond. 

• Fall foliage colors are brilliant along many of eastern Washington's streamside areas where deciduous trees thrive and migrating birds congregate. 
• Up north in Ferry County, along the Kettle River from Curlew to Danville, and the northern end of Pend Oreille County along the Pend Oreille River, there is extraordinary tree color at this time, including eye-dazzling yellow displays of western larch and aspen trees. 
• The Spokane River's shorelines of sumac, hawthorne, and serviceberry are bright red now. 
• South along the Palouse and Snake Rivers, the cottonwoods are golden.
  

• A recent aerial waterfowl survey conducted cooperatively with the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge showed and unusually large number of white pelicans on the larger water bodies.  WDFW regional wildlife biologist Matt Monda reports that the survey also showed many great egrets around Potholes Reservoir and quite a few sandhill cranes in Douglas County. 
• A great new free map and guide to birdwatching throughout the region is available now at WDFW's Ephrata, Spokane and Yakima regional offices. The Great Washington State Birding Trail along the Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway features 53 birdwatching sites between Grand Coulee and Othello, most with good opportunities for fall viewing. The route includes more than half of Washington's 365 bird species at some time of year, from bald eagles to western screech owls. 
• The map is the second in Washington Audubon's series (the North Cascades loop was produced last year) and is a cooperative production of Central Basin Audubon Society, WDFW, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Transportation, and Washington State Tourism Office. It is also available through http://wa.audubon.org/new/audubon/. 

• WDFW habitat biologist Ken Bevis recently observed a family of four river otters swimming in the southeast pond close to Toppenish Creek on the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge. 
• Other wildlife viewers recently report bighorn sheep visible almost every day along the Yakima River downstream from Ellensburg, and canyon wrens and Virginia rails in the Selah Canyon Preserve along Selah Creek on the Yakima Training Center
  

October 30 - November 12, 2002 (thru November)

• With the approach of November, chunky chum salmon have begun moving into rivers and streams throughout the region. One good place to watch them make their upstream journey is the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail near Highway 101 about halfway between Olympia and Shelton. Built two years ago by the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group (SPSSEG) on land owned by the Taylor Shellfish Co., the trail is open to the public on weekends between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Dec. 2.  To get to the trail from Highway 101, turn west at mile post 356 onto the Old Olympic Highway. Travel eight-tenths of a mile, then turn west onto an unnamed gravel road marked with the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail sign. For more information, call (360) 754-6464.

• The upper end of Lake Chelan during November offers opportunities to see mountain goats. Contact the Lake Chelan Boat Company at (509) 682-2224 for information regarding trip schedules. Observers sometimes also see mule deer on the north shore in the lower portion of Lake Chelan.
  

October 31 - November 13, 2001

• Birdwatching near Blaine on the Canadian border has turned up a number of interesting shorebirds lately, including flocks of black-bellied plovers, greater and lesser yellowlegs and even a Franklin's Gull.

• Large flocks of south-bound ducks have stopped on Swofford Pond, which also has been a good place to see pied-billed grebes. At least three common loons in winter plumage were recently spotted on Mayfield Lake. A large otter has also been seen several times at Swofford Pond. 

• An area birder reports spotting 17 tundra swans, a snow goose and more than a dozen great egrets at the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Washougal in Clark County, as well as several swans at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. 

• The Kettle River and Boulder Pass areas in the northeast, and many other riparian or streamside areas throughout the region, are in prime fall foliage right now with eye-dazzling yellow displays of cottonwoods, western larch, and aspen trees. 

• This is a spectacular time of year to drive, bike, hike, horseback-ride, or otherwise travel through the Yakima River Canyon on Highway 821. Fall tree color is brilliant now, and there are good opportunities to see everything from roosting bald eagles to foraging woodpeckers, especially along the Umtanum trail. You might even catch a glimpse of a California bighorn sheep or two.
  

November 1-14, 2000

• The Washington coast is alive with migrating birds at this time of year, and some have made an extraordinary effort to get here. Three tropical kingbirds, a rare Mexican flycatcher that occasionally turns up in late fall, have been spotted at Ocean Shores near the marina over the past week. Two palm warblers, an eastern North America warbler that is also rare in Washington, have been seen in the same area. Further south in Tokeland, the large flock of godwits in the marina area includes at least one bar-tailed godwit, an Asian shorebird, and an American avocet, an interior shorebird that is rare along the outer coast.

• Coastal birders can sometimes get a glimpse of a fulmar or storm-petrel flying just outside of the surf line during – or immediately after – fall storms. These species are normally seen only from boats further offshore.
• Far more common are the trumpeter swans that are beginning to arrive on Lake Quinault and other lakes.

• Sandhill cranes are still showing up in the Shillapoo State Wildlife Area near Vancouver as well as at nearby Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, and flocks of cackling Canada geese are beginning to show up in greater numbers, as well. As temperatures fall, watch for more ducks.

• Those who want to watch elk this time of year are in luck, according to Wildlife Area Manager Brian Calkins.  Elk are in the Mount St. Helens State Wildlife Area year-round, but the numbers really begin to build this time of year. Calkins expects numbers in excess of 300 animals in the area this year.  "We're in the process of rebuilding from our winter kill three years ago, when there were 500 to 600 elk in the area," Calkins said.  To view these elk, take State Route 504 off Interstate 5; there are several vehicle turnoffs between Milepost 25 and 35, and elk may be viewed with the aid of field glasses.  Or continue to the Mount St. Helens National Forest Service visitors centers – Coldwater Ridge Visitor's Center at Milepost 43 or Johnson Ridge Visitor's Center at Milepost 52.

• Tundra swans are still in the Spangle ponds area and Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in Spokane County, Reardan ponds and other lakes and potholes in Lincoln County, and Calispell Lake and the Pend Oreille River in Pend Oreille County.
  

November 4 - 17, 1999

• The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near Vancouver has just opened a new 4-mile auto-only tour route, complete with observation areas and interpretative signs for people wishing to watch birds. Birds become more accustomed to vehicles than they do people so Ridgefield may offer more opportunities to see ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and other species. Call the refuge at (360) 887-4106 for more information. November is the prime season to watch hawks and eagles migrate south.

• Good sites to observe bald eagles include: the Long Lake Dam Campground on the Spokane River near Spokane; Birch Bay State Park north of Bellingham and the Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery (509) 538-2755. The Columbia Gorge is a good place to spot eagles and hawks. 

• Try the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge near Ilwaco (360) 484-3482, Bowerman Basin (360) 532-6237 and other ocean spots to see loons, pelicans and other waterfowl moving south. 

• For those who like to watch eagles as well as salmon, a trip to the Little White Salmon National Hatchery in Cook is in order. Call (509) 538-2755 for information. 

• WDFW's Issaquah Hatchery (425) 775-1311 offers an excellent visitor center, viewing tank and interpretative signs for people interested in observing the salmon life cycle. 
• Gold Creek Pond near Snoqualmie Pass also offers excellent opportunities to view fall runs of landlocked Kokanee (sockeye) salmon. The facility features an interpretative trail, pond and spawning channel. Take the Hyak-Gold Creek exit off Interstate 5 east of Snoqualmie Pass. (206) 888-1421.
  

November 5 - 18, 1998

• The Columbian White-Tailed Deer National Wildlife Refuge near Cathlamet in southwest Washington offers opportunities to view hundreds of the endangered white- tailed deer and even elk which inhabit the refuge.  Drive the Steamboat Slough or Brooks Slough roads in the early morning or evening for the best views. Call the refuge at (360) 795-3915 for more information.

• Deer can be seen in many areas. November is breeding time so it is the best opportunity to see whitetail, blacktail and mule deer bucks jousting with each other and just about anything else that gets in their way.  Their antlers are at their biggest and they use them on everything from tree branches to fence posts.

• Sea birds and waterfowl are plentiful around Puget Sound, the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca and all the inlets, channels, passages and bays that comprise what is known as the Salish Sea.  There are more water birds in this marine area now than at any other time of year. Look for loons, grebes, cormorants, gulls and a variety of geese and ducks, including scoters, harlequins and oldsquaw. Rhinoceros auklet and tuffed puffin also can be seen.

  • And where you find waterfowl be sure to look for the birds of prey. Bald eagles feed on shore and water birds, falcons and merlins dine on alcids, ducks and shorebirds. Watch for birds of prey along the shore, especially near mudflats. Birds are best viewed from boats. Taking the ferry also gets the birdwatcher out to the birds.  Consider ferries serving the San Juans, Victoria B.C. and Vancouver, B.C. for the best viewing opportunities.
  • Kayak Point County Park, Washington Park, Padilla and Birch bays and Point Roberts also offer good viewing opportunities. Also consider Ediz Hook, the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Port Townsend.

November 15-28, 2006

• Now's a great time to get out to Kennedy Creek to see spawning chum salmon. The creek, which flows into the head of Totten Inlet in south Puget Sound, is one of the most productive chum salmon streams in the state. Spawning salmon are best viewed from the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. The half-mile trail, located off U.S. Highway 101 between Olympia and Shelton

• Cady's most recent report highlights sightings of 35 great egrets at Post Office Lake

• Now is the time to watch bright red kokanee salmon swim up Harvey Creek from Sullivan Lake in Pend Oreille County to spawn. The kokanee usually start up the creek in early November and remain through early January. From Highway 31 south of Ione, take County Road 9345 toward Sullivan Lake Ranger Station and on to the bridge at the south end of Sullivan Lake.

• Migrating flocks of tundra swans have been seen throughout the region from Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Spokane County to near Calispel Lake and the Pend Oreille River in Pend Oreille County. Howard Ferguson, WDFW central district wildlife biologist, counted 100 swans at Reardan's Audubon Lake in Lincoln County and about 200 at Philleo Lake, just west of Spangle in Spokane County.

• Deer and elk can be easily seen from Highway 12 through the Tieton River canyon and WDFW's Oak Creek Wildlife Area complex. "They're moving down to their traditional winter range,"
  

November 10 - 23, 2004

• Two birders tallied 47 species during a recent four-hour visit to WDFW's Skagit Wildlife Area. Birds seen during the census included more than 90 long-billed dowitchers roosting in a slough, an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 dunlin circling Skagit Bay, and six bald eagles.

• Reports of tundra swans on both large and small bodies of water have been received throughout Eastern WA from Sullivan Lake in the northeast to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and Sprague Lake farther south and west.

• The Columbia Basin's famous waterways are now hosting a multitude of ducks, geese and other waterbirds that are easily viewed from the labyrinth of roads criss-crossing the countryside.

• Birders scouting around Soap Lake, Banks Lake and Dry Falls should watch for Pacific loon, long-tailed duck, surf and white-winged scoters, snow bunting, Lapland longspur, gray-crowned rosy finch, northern shrike and redpolls. 

• Views of bighorn sheep are available along the Tieton River up State Route 12.

• Rimrock Lake has been the scene of loon watching, mostly of the common loon, but also the much smaller Pacific loon, a rarity away from the coast.  Other birds recently seen at the reservoir include horned and western grebes, northern pintail, and bald eagle, and California gulls have been feasting on spawned-out kokanee salmon.  Birdwatchers at Dog Lake report eared grebe, Barrow's goldeneyes and hooded mergansers.  Clear Lake has also been hosting a variety of waterfowl, including ring-necked duck, greater and lesser scaup, bufflehead and common merganser.
  

November 12-25, 2003

• Winged wintertime visitors continue flocking into the region, with daily arrivals of snow geese in the agricultural fields of the lower Skagit Valley. Look for hundreds of thousands of the birds to fill the region well past New Year's Day. Snow geese are among the smaller members of the goose family. Unlike other geese, they're quite social and don't seem to have a problem nesting and wintering in close proximity to other birds.
• Trumpeter swans have also been reported in the northern portions of the region near the Canadian border. 

• The oaks in Klickitat County continue to hold unusually large numbers of Lewis' woodpeckers; a good acorn crop may be the draw. 

• The Shillapoo Wildlife Area, Vancouver lowlands and Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge are all likely spots for seeing waterfowl, sandhill cranes and geese, says Eric Holman, WDFW wildlife biologist. 

• The Columbia Basin's famous waterways are now hosting a multitude of ducks and geese and other waterbirds that are easily viewed from the labyrinth of roads criss-crossing the countryside.

• The Tieton River Corridor, from Rimrock Lake to its confluence with the Naches River northwest of Yakima, is one of the best in the state for viewing virtually all the species of woodpeckers found in Washington. Many of these interesting birds are year-round residents and now that fall frosts have left vegetation at a minimum, many can be easier to spot. The 30-some-mile corridor includes all of eastern Washington's habitat types - shrub-steppe, mixed forest, alpine meadow. Watch streamside tree trunks for foraging northern flickers, downy, hairy, white-headed, three-toed, and black-backed woodpeckers. If you're lucky you may see a glimpse of a pileated woodpecker, Williamson's sapsucker or Lewis' woodpecker.

November 12-26, 2002

• The Swofford Pond Unit of the Cowlitz Wildlife Area is a favorite spot to watch large rafts of waterfowl. A wildlife area employee reported seeing a raft of some 500 feeding birds, including some 250 coots and 150 Canada geese, along with ring-necked ducks and wigeon. Wigeon are adept at stealing food from coots, although the coots apparently tolerated the behavior well enough to continue feeding in the same area.  (Black bear were seen in this area last week)

• Close-up views of bald eagles, ravens and other carrion-eaters might be gained along the upper Naches River west of Yakima in the next few weeks. With assistance from the U.S. Forest Service's Naches Ranger District, WDFW fish biologists will be conducting their annual salmon carcass nutrient enhancement project in the upper Naches River drainage the week of Nov 18. This project includes the pickup of over 11 tons of spawned out salmon carcasses from Priest Rapids Hatchery on the Columbia River for distribution to the upper Naches River drainage. The carcasses are distributed into streams with low levels of ocean-derived nutrients. Studies have shown that the nutrients from decaying salmon carcasses are very important organic food sources for young salmon, steelhead, bull trout and other resident stream fishes and aquatic insects. The eagles and other carrion-eating wildlife also benefit from these salmon carcasses, as do wildlife watchers.

• Bighorn sheep are currently very visible right in and near the small town of Lincoln on Lake Roosevelt, northeast of Creston in Lincoln County. WDFW Wildlife Biologist Dave Volsen reports that the sheep are grouping up and rams are displaying breeding behavior, including the species' famous horn-banging battles for dominance.

November 14-27, 2001

• Check out the wide variety of birds as they migrate through the region, including lapland longspurs, which are being sighted in the Blaine and Bellingham areas.

• (Eastern and Central Washington) Now is the time for deer watchers, photographers, and artists to be afield and on the lookout for whitetail bucks in full-fledged rutting behavior. Look for "scrapes" near small trees off obvious deer trails in the woods and along streamsides; these are both patches of tree bark worn off from bucks polishing their antlers and practicing battle, and patches of ground pawed away and marked with scent. Position yourself quietly and discreetly nearby and wait for the most close-up views of buck deer that you'll get all year. Preoccupied with finding does to breed and challenging other bucks, these normally wary animals are now relatively visible.

Noevmber 15-28, 2000

• The Fir Islands snow goose viewing and ADA access site is open. Take the Conway exit from Interstate 5; follow Fir Island Road to La Conner, and watch for the viewing site before the road turns sharply to the north. Along the Skagit Bayfront, watch for now geese, swans, peregrine falcons and shorebirds. 

• Fall viewing of the Mount St. Helens elk herd continues, with numbers of elk expected to be around the 500 mark. Visitors may get good views with the aid of field glasses at national forest visitor centers along State Route 504.

• Watch the skies here in the open country counties of the Columbia Basin for gyrfalcons and snowy owls, starting to be seen in the area as they move south for food. The gyrfalcons are two-foot-long, gray, arctic falcons that prey on quail, partridge, prairie grouse, small ducks and pigeons. Snowy owls are two-foot-long birds that feed on rodents.

November 18 - December 1, 1999

• November is a spectacular time to see male bighorn sheep butting heads to show dominance in their mating rituals. Check the cliffs west of Washington 821 in the Yakima River Canyon between Yakima and Ellensburg. Good viewing spots are above the areas where Umtanum and Roza creeks join the Yakima. The brown sheep are well camouflaged so bring binoculars and look for movement.

November 18 - December 2, 1998

• November is a good time to view the mating behavior of chinook and other species of salmon. The salmon's elaborate rituals are designed to ensure the largest and strongest fish mate. Scientists have identified more than 20 salmon spawning behaviors that are visible in shallow water. 

• Good viewing opportunities for chum salmon are available in the east fork of the Satsop River near Schaffer State Park. The park is located 10 miles north of State Route 8, at Brady. 
• The rivers feeding Hood Canal also provide great salmon viewing. Try Twanoh State Park. 
• Individuals and small groups can view trout spawning at the Spokane Trout Hatchery. The hatchery, located in north Spokane off Waikiki Drive, produces some nine million rainbow trout eggs--approximately a third of the state's total production. Call Bob Bates at (509) 328-7327 to make arrangements.

• Harlequins, one of the most motley colored waterfowl, are rare enough to draw birders from Oregon and California. The ducks nest near mountain streams but spend most of their lives in the ocean.   Look for them bobbing close to rocky shores, especially where the ocean is turbulent. They eat almost anything and can be seen dining on crabs and mollusks--including shells. The best viewing areas for harlequins are Point Roberts and Salt Creek County Park on the Olympic Peninsula. Victoria's breakwater is another good viewing spot for harlequins, as well as gulls, murrelets and oldsquaw, another brightly colored duck. The harlequins and other sea birds can be viewed along the rocky coastlines of the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca and the interconnected inlets, bays and channels of the Salish Sea

• If Victoria or Point Roberts are too far away for a birdwatching trip, consider Olympia's Capitol Lake. November is a good time to see a variety of migratory waterbirds, raptors (eagles, hawks) and, if lucky, river otters and mink. Capitol Lake offers great blue herons, bufflehead, goldeneye, kingfishers, ruddy ducks and hooded mergansers to the lucky viewer.

• Thousands of Canada geese and tundra swans currently are staging  (hanging out to feed and rest) in agricultural areas of Lincoln and Whitman counties. Here are some viewing spots:

• Duck or Cormana Lakes, about 10 miles due west of Harrington in southeastern Lincoln County  (lots of lesser Canada geese) 
• Coffeepot Lake, about 15 miles west of Harrington  (lots of greater Canada geese) 
• Sprague-Ewan areas, in Lincoln and Whitman counties, where tundra swans concentrate in small lakes and ponds.