Washington – The Pacific Northwest

This exciting tour of the Pacific Coast and Puget Sound region includes an incredible diversity of birds, wildlife, habitats, experiences, and scenic wonders. We’ll spend three nights at each of our three major locations. On Mount Rainier, the highest point in Washington, we will look for White-tailed Ptarmigan, Sooty Grouse, Clark’s Nutcracker, and American Dipper. Lower habitats are good for MacGillivray’s Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Varied Thrush.

We will scan the rocky waterfronts for Wandering Tattler and other shorebirds.

On our day at sea with Westport Pelagics we should see literally thousands of pelagic birds including Black-footed Albatross, Fork-tailed Storm Petrel, Rhinoceros Auklet, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Pink-footed Shearwater. One of our past tours yielded point-blank looks at a Red-legged Kittiwake, an incredible rarity anywhere outside of Alaska. Tokeland is a good spot to look for Bar-tailed Godwit, while Ocean Shores may yield Pacific Golden Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and several species of loon.

We’ll look for Mountain Quail near Belfair State Park, then spend time at Hurricane Ridge for Townsend’s Solitaire and a nice variety of raptors. Dungeness Spit is great for aquatic species: in past years we’ve found Yellow-billed Loon and Horned Puffin among scores of more common species. We are likely to find dozens of Harlequin Ducks at Ediz Hook, plus Black Oystercatchers, Marbled Murrelets, and a Peregrine Falcon or two.

Harlequin Ducks are arguably the most striking waterfowl in the USA.