Tucked away under an overpass on west Memorial Highway where a tributary flows from Padilla Bay south to Skagit Bay, there is an access road that connects back to east bound Memorial Highway, aptly named Boat Launch Road. I found myself on this road mid-afternoon on a spring day to witness a sight that is common to people who live in this area.
Every year between autumn and late spring, these farmlands are home to thousands of Snow Geese, feeding before the long journey north to their homeland. In fact, according to the Skagit Audubon Society annual Padilla Bay Christmas Bird count, this year was an all-time high of 31,995 Snow Geese.
Packed together like sardines in a can, this spectacular sight was a mere twenty feet from the road-side, so close you could see the distinctive head bobbing and the constant shuffling for their own real estate. Suddenly, as if in a Broadway performance, they rise as one in a great explosive burst. Up in the air they soared as if performing in a rock musical, and on cue they all return to feed, but this time their wings are in a dance of their own leading the way for that exclusive real estate.
To the locals in the area this is a familiar sight, the return of the Snow Geese to one of the best viewing spots in Skagit County.