Lime Kiln Lighthouse

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington

Showing posts with label sanctuary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sanctuary. Show all posts

Sunday, June 9, 2013

No. 191 Bay View State Park

Bay View State Park
10901 Bay View-Edison Rd
Mt Vernon, WA 98273

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Bay View State Park covers around 25 acres and has a play area, camp ground including yurts is located on the eastern shore of Padilla Bay in Skagit County and has 1200 feet of shoreline.
Padilla Bay is an estuary at the saltwater edge of the large delta of the Skagit River in the Salish Sea. It is about eight miles long (north to south) and three miles across. In 1980, this bay was selected to be included in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Because the bay is filled with sediment from the Skagit River, the bottom is very shallow, flat, and muddy. It is so shallow that almost the whole bay is intertidal. This means that it is flooded at high tide. When the tide goes out the whole bay empties out, exposing miles and miles of mud flats. This condition allows unusually large eelgrass meadows to grow. There are nearly 8,000 acres of eelgrass (Zostera marina and Z. japonica) in Padilla Bay.
Habitats in the Padilla Bay support herring, smelt, pink and chum salmon, flatfish, Dungeness crab, ducks including Black Brant, eagles, shorebirds, and peregrine falcons.  Mammals found in Padilla Bay include harbor seals and river otters.


  Padilla Bay Padilla Bay


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lens rental Washington State travel, Washington State travel, Washington Destinations, Photography, Photography spots, best things to do in Seattle, Best things to in Washington State, Washington Tourism Alliance, Washington State Tourism board, recommendations, recommendations for things to see in washington state, things to do in washington state, things to do in seattle, things to do in Tacoma washington, Washington Photographers, Washington nikon shooters, best seattle photography, washington exploration, experience washington, what to do while visiting seattle, seattle top attractions, seattle food, Space Needle, Explore Washington State, Puget Exposure Photography, Puget Exposure, Road Trips through Washington State, Weird Washington, King County, Snohomish County, Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Kent, Redmond, Kirkland, Washington Sunrises where and when, Washington State Weather, Anacortes, Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Padilla Bay is located in Skagit County, Washington, in the northern reaches of greater Puget Sound, on the southeastern fringe of the San Juan Archipelago. The Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) protects one of the largest continuous beds of eelgrass in the contiguous United States. The surrounding region is part of the Skagit Valley agricultural complex, one of the most fertile regions in the world. Padilla Bay covers more than 11,000 acres of a broad, flat intertidal embayment disconnected from normal flows of the Skagit River due to diking. Habitats within the reserve are predominately aquatic with most of its habitat dominated by eelgrass (Zostera marina and Z. japonica), with a smaller portion of its boundary including uplands, freshwater sloughs, and high salt marsh. Habitats in the Padilla Bay NERR support herring, smelt, pink and chum salmon, flatfish, Dungeness crab, ducks including Black Brant, eagles, shorebirds, and peregrine falcons. Mammals found in Padilla Bay include harbor seals and river otters.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

No.125 Nisqually WIldlife Refuge

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
I-5 Exit 114
8 Miles north of Olympia
Website: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Nisqually/

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Open Daily Sunrise to Sunset
$3 fee per group of 4 Adults



The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on the Nisqually River Delta near Puget Sound in northeastern Thurston County, Washington and northwestern Pierce County, Washington. The refuge is located just off Interstate 5, between the cities of Tacoma and Olympia.
The 12.6 km2 refuge was created in 1974 to provide habitat and nesting areas for waterfowl and other migratory birds. It includes a protected estuary, salt marshes and open mudflats, freshwater marshes, open grassland, and riparian woodland and brush. An additional 3.2 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) planned is protected by the disjoint Black River Unit on a tributary of the Chehalis River.
Over 20,000 birds, made up of 275 different migrating species, use the freshwater marshes and grasslands for breeding, resting or wintering. The most abundant bird types include raptors, shorebirds and songbirds. Larger animals such as hawks and coyotes feast in the grassland due to the presence of mice and voles.
The riparian woodland and brush habitats contain many amphibians, mammals and reptiles. The Refuge has around 5 miles of walking trails. The one-mile long raised boardwalk Twin Barns Loop Trail takes you past various marshes and small ponds, past the Twin Barns and then to open estuary.


Nisqually Wildlife
Entrance to Nisqually Refuge
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
Portion of Twin Barns Loop Trail
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
The Eastern Twin of the Twin Barns
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
Mallard Duck eating algae in a pond
Duck breakfast
Everyone is in on it
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
A Young Red Tailed Hawk keeps an eye on the walkers below
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
Be mindful of the squirrels
Nisqually Wildlife Sanctuary
Spider Web covered in morning dew
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