Skagit County attracts photographers, birders for bald eagle viewing

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — There are few symbols fairly as patriotic as a bald eagle. And there are few locations to see them within the wild fairly like Skagit County.

The shores of Bay View State Park provide views of the San Juan Islands, a rocky beachfront, and a every day stroll for Dave Helgeson.

He shares this house with the eagles.

“We’re blessed because there’s eagles everywhere,” Helgeson stated. “And you don’t really realize until you start looking and you’re always seeing them.”

It’s why photographers like Garv Nayyar drive north each week, rain or shine.

“I can never get tired of seeing eagles. I’ve taken probably hundreds and hundreds of photos of eagles,” Nayyar stated.

It is a photographer’s paradise.

“When you’re looking at them through your lens, your camera, they make that kind of eye contact. It’s like they can see you through the lens, and when they look at you, it’s just like, wow,” Nayyar stated. “You know, I’m staring at you eye to eye.”

It’s a boon for birders, too.

Kate Brown leads chicken watching excursions by means of her firm, Bird Bellingham.

“People here are sometimes nonchalant about eagles because we’re just so used to seeing them every day, almost as backyard birds,” Brown stated. “But just the absolute sheer number of them that you can see here in this spot is really, really special.”

Judy Everett Ramos not too long ago moved to Washington from Texas, the place she not often noticed bald eagles.

“This has been great because we see them even when we don’t mean to look for them,” Ramos stated. “And then on a day like today, when you hope to see them, well, we’ve got lots of luck today.”

Of course, the times aren’t all fortunate.

If you enterprise out and the eagle viewing is scant, contemplate this recommendation from Nayyar, “If you’re always on the rush trying to find what you’re looking for, you’re never gonna find it. You just gotta relax and just enjoy what’s in front of you.”