Bald eagles from Alaska and British Columbia, gather in large numbers this time of the year on the Nooksack and Skagit rivers. They are here to get their easy prey, spawning salmon on these rivers. In the winter, dead salmon wash up on the sandbars created by the many channels of the river. Bring a pair of binoculars to see the action close up.
There is a Eagle Sanctuary on The Skagit near the North Cascades Highway, also known as Highway 20, just outside of Rockport.
The Deming Homestead Eagle Park is small detour off the Mt. Baker Highway where you can also observe the eagles. This was once the site of a pioneer dairy farm ever that Hank and Lorrell Rensick inherited from Hank’s parents, Peter and Martha, who homesteaded this area.
You can also see the eagles from the river on a raft. Both rivers have outfitters running weekend trips this time of year to see the eagles.
I did a Skagit river raft trip last winter and it was great. I also did one several years ago on the Noo
ksack where we spotted over 200 eagles on a half mile stretch of the river and in that stretch we counted about 25 eagles in one tree. It was an amazing site.
Photos courtesy of Flickr By controltheweb & By Rich Anderson