The small town of Edison, Washington is located in a bird-perfect area: Samish Bay on the northwest and farm fields on the southeast. What bird wouldn’t love it! My husband and I spent the day traveling to our favorite birding spots around Edison. But today was different. I began to wonder if the local bird species had also heard about the festival and planned their attendance. The largest number of bald eagles we had ever spotted was six, but today, we stopped counting at forty. Along with the eagles, mallards, Northern pintails, blue herons, and tundra swans showed up in mass. Red-tailed hawks swooped down showing off their fan-like tails in an attempt to steal the show from the eagles. I swear I caught a glimpse of a black oystercatcher. But the star attraction was the ring-necked pheasant strutting just off the roadside by the Edison Liquor Store.
The “Keep Your Chickens in Line” parade kicked off the festival on Saturday morning. We regretted missing the spectacle until we found our own private chicken parade in the neighboring town of Bow.
If you didn’t make it this year, put it on your calendar for 2013. http://edisonbirdfestival.com/blog
On the way home, we drove along March’s Point to photograph what is believed to be the largest blue-heron rookery in Western North America. Check out their live heron cam: http://www.padillabay.gov/education_heron.html
