Eagle Festival Week Two – Come for the scenery, stay for the programs.

Scope at kid level for viewing a red tail hawk at Howard Miller Steelhead Park

Activities abound this weekend in the upper Skagit. While the bald eagles appear to be plentiful on the Skagit and Samish Flats, upvalley in Rockport and Marblemount there are many special programs available for free!

Skagit Eagle Festival 

Peter Ali will be playing at Marblemount Community Center as part of a weekend of Native American art and storytelling

Saturday & Sunday, January 14 & 15

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Marblemount Community Hall

60055 State Route 20, Marblemount

Native history, storytelling, music,

local native arts & crafts vendors, and fry bread tacos all day.

Native speakers and presentations 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Native musicians and performers 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Peter Ali and other Native American performances

Free admission. Donations appreciated.

Find out more about the 2017  Eagle Festival Here

Skagit River Bald Eagle Interpretive Center

In Rockport, stop by the Skagit River Bald Eagle Interpretive Center, located inside Howard Miller Steelhead Park

Open Saturday and Sunday 10-4. Enjoy a warm fire, refreshments, a gift shop, and daily programs.

At 11:00 take a 90 minute guided walk with a US Forest Ranger. Indoor presentations are offered at 1:00.

Saturday : Dr. Steve Glenn will talk about winter birds of the Skagit.

Sunday: Taylor Schmuki from Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group presents Salmon Habitat Restoration Projects in Howard Miller Steelhead Park.

Eagle Viewing Stations

Volunteers with scopes and binoculars ready to answer your questions about eagles

Eagle viewing stations are located at Howard Miller Steelhad Park, Sutter Creek Park (milepost 100) and Marblemount Fish Hatchery. We will be there from 10-3 Saturday and Sunday.

All the above programs are free and the weather looks fine!

Boating

With potentially dry skies and temperatures above freezing, it looks like a great weekend to hire one of the local float trip guides for a boat ride and enjoy the beauty of the river. Have you ever tried it?
Have a great weekend everyone!

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Conditions upriver for this weekend

Looks like nice weather for weekend two of the Skagit Eagle Festival. Sunny and above freezing! It’s been a while. Just be prepared. Snow and ice are still lingering, especially in Marblemount. Some side roads and parking lots are still slippery. 

Marblemount Hatchery January 12. It is going to take a while to melt this thick ice

All the eagle viewing sites are accessible for driving. Just be careful walking around. 

Sutter Creek Park at Milepost 100 on January 12

Eagle Watchers Stations Cancelled Sunday Jan 8

No viewing stations open Sunday Jan 8. Due to high winds and freezing rain in the forecast, we will not be opening the volunteer-staffed eagle watching stations tomorrow. See you next weekend!

A fine New Years weekend

Eagle watchers have a front row vista of soaring and kettling bald eagles at Sutter Creek roadside park (milepost 100) on New Years Day 2017

It was a quiet, cold and beautiful weekend in the upper Skagit Valley. The threat of snow and ice kept many folks away, but those who ventured out saw a fair amount of eagle action. 

Visitors to the Marblemount Hatchery peer at a juvenile bald eagle that landed at the top of a nearby cedar on Saturday December 31

Saturday crew at the Hatchery as snow starts to fall Saturday afternoon

Sunday morning the landscape was covered with about 6 inches of fresh snow. 

Road to the Hatchery Sunday morning

Though highway 20 was well plowed, the side roads were not yet clear and we decided not to open the fish Hatchery eagle watching station on Sunday 

Marblemount Boat Launch

Skagit River near Cascadian Farm

Though a cold front was on its way, the temperature climbed above freezing with sunny skies. When we were not being wowed by the scenery the eagles put on an occasional show. As the weather was changing, there must have been some mighty thermals, because the eagles stayed relatively active, with plenty of swirling, soaring and ketttling. 

Volunteer Angela on the Highway 530 bridge on Sunday

Awesome vantage point looking upstream from 530 bridge

 

Eagle below highway 530 bridge

Ranger Matt and two volunteers led about a dozen folks through Steelhead Park campground, past the slough and through the meadow to look toward the confluence of the Sauk and Suiattle rivers. There were many eagles on the move, flying upstream. Where are they headed? So many times I have wished we could understand eagle language as they talk to one another. 

 With cold east winds moving in, we closed up shop a little early Sunday afternoon so we could all get home safely before the roads iced up. A very happy  and successful holiday of eagle watching!

 Weather permitting, we will be back next weekend. Gonna be a cold one- make sure to bundle up. See you then!

Snowy New Year in the Upper Skagit

Marblemount at 7:42 am, January 1, 2017

Overnight snow has made Marblemount a winter wonderland! Highway 20 is plowed, but watch for ice.

Travel to Rockport via highway 530 is not recommended. The report from Darrington is that there is much more snow and the road is in poor condition. 

Eagle watchers will be running with a smaller crew and shorter day today. 

Temperatures are expected to drop throughout the day, so stay warm and stay safe!

Eagle Watching Stations Cancelled Sunday 12/18

Roads are too slick folks. To my volunteers: please stay safe and stay home. I am stranded (safe) at a rest area along I-5 at the moment, so I will not be bringing supplies up the Skagit today. 

Tanya

A cold and quiet first weekend

Clark Creek and Jordan Creek empty into the Cascade River near Marblemount Hatchery

It was a lovely sunny and frigid day of eagle watching today. The river is fairly low, making for better exposure of coho carcasses. There were several eagles around each of our sites. Human visitation was quiet. Was everyone out holiday shopping?

Volunteer Karen at Marblemount Hatchery eagle watch station

Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for snow, and roads could slippery. Drive safely out there. Weather permitting, eagle stations will be open. Come and see us!

Milepost 100 eagle watch station on 12/17/16. Eldorado was lovely today!