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MLK Day
With a sunny day at hand, I set out in pursuit of snow geese and migratory swans in the Lower Skagit Valley west of Mt. Vernon, WA. I thought this would be a good ride as the temperature was in the lower 20's (F) when I got up and had warmed up to the upper 30's when I left the house at 1:30pm. I wanted to ride in open terrain where the roads would be well exposed to the sun to minimize a chance encounter with icy patches.
I found a large flock of snow geese in a field off Moore Road on Fir Island. Many other folks were out bird watching as well. I coasted up to the line of parked cars, dismounted, and got some shots of the geese. My cold bare hands and the ice in the drainage ditches reminded me that it is winter and I had best get home before dark.
After taking some photos of the geese with Mt. Baker in the background, I rode a circle route of the middle of the island where I saw two bald eagles engaged in aerial sparing. They split up and one landed in a large tree not far from where the geese were. I rode past the geese again and took a few more shots.
I crossed the North Fork of the Skagit River and turned off the main road at the Rexville Grocery. I cruised among the fields where tulips are planted until I found a flock of swans in the distance. I took some telephoto shots of the swans (see the last photo below) and chatted with a guy from LaConner who was out enjoying the sun on his 70's era Beemer 1,000 complete with Vetter fairing.
With about an hour of daylight left, I headed to Mt. Vernon and jumped on I-5 for the ride back home. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny as well, so I may take a run up 530 to Darrington to look for more good photo ops.
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Bill Anderson & Darkwing Duc (06-ST3s, black) Edmonds, WA. USA
Last edited by Bill_Anderson; Jan 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm.
Reason: adding photos
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