Skagit Winter Birds Festival Tours
Skagit is the winter home to thousands of migratory birds that have flown from northern latitudes, including Alaska and Russia.
To experience this bird extravaganza, join one of our daily Skagit Winter Birds Festival Tours. Our experienced local guide/naturalist Stephanie will drive you to the edge of the Salish Sea, the fertile Skagit Valley farmlands, the shorelines of bays and estuaries, or up the Skagit or Nooksack Rivers for the best birdwatching opportunities. Whether you are a novice birdwatcher or a life-list birder, our Skagit Winter Birds will “Re-Wild your Spirit”!
SKAGIT VALLEY GEESE & SWANS ECO TOUR (October through March)
This 3-hour Eco Tour takes you around Skagit Valley’s farm fields in search of the thousands of Snow geese & smaller flocks of Tundra and Trumpeter swans. They over-winter here grazing, moving from field to field throughout the day and from day to day. We’ll also be on the lookout for bald eagles, other raptors and open field bird species. Time and interest permitting, stops will be added to search for shorebirds and other waterfowl near the farmlands.
SKAGIT BIRDING ECO TOUR (September through March)
This 7-hour Eco Tour includes the 3-hour Skagit Valley Geese & Swans Eco Tour itinerary. After lunch, we’ll visit other excellent birding locations in Skagit and Padilla Bays to look for waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, Great Blue herons, and more. Ever been to a heronry? Two of the largest and most important heron nesting grounds in the US are located right here, in Skagit County! Time and interest permitting, we’ll search for seabirds in Anacortes and/or Deception Pass State Park, both at the edge of Salish Sea.
SKAGIT EAGLES WINTER ECO TOUR (December)
This 7-hour Eco Tour takes you to experience the winter wilderness along the Skagit or Nooksack Rivers where hundreds of migratory bald eagles congregate to feast on the winter salmon run. While you watch, listen and learn about the regal bald eagles during our crisp winter days, you’ll find yourself surrounded by the snow covered mountains of the North Cascades, as well as the moss & lichen covered forest trees. The life cycle of salmon, the different species, and their importance in sustaining the bald eagles, bears, orcas, as well as the PNW fisheries and ways of life will be discussed. Weekends include a visit to the Skagit Bald Eagle Interpretive Center and weekdays to the salmon hatchery.
In Seattle or Vancouver and don’t have a car? Easy. Hop on the Amtrak Cascades to the Mount Vernon station pick-up for your Skagit Winter Birds Festival Tours.
Skagit Guided Adventures offers small group Nature, Hiking & Farm Tours around Anacortes, Skagit Valley, Mount Baker, the North Cascades & San Juan Islands. Join one of these fun Adventures for a day. Or stay longer for a multi-day Adventure to “Re-Wild” Your Spirit! in NW Washington. Check out all Guided Adventures.