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WildLookoutKnow where to go. Know when to photograph.

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WildLookout

Opportunity scores are planning aids, not sighting guarantees. How scoring works

Wildlife welfare comes before any photograph.

Sightings from eBird
Weather by Open-Meteo
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Tiles by OpenFreeMap · Terrain from AWS Terrain Tiles

Waterfowl

Northern pintail

Anas acuta

An elegant, long-tailed dabbling duck that winters by the thousands on the bays, estuaries and flooded farmland of Skagit and Whatcom counties.

Seasonality

Peaks across 5 months. Abundant from September to March; nearly absent in early summer.

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Behavior

Feeds by tipping up in shallow water and grazing in flooded fields.
Gathers in big flocks on bays and estuaries, moving with the tide.
Drakes are in crisp breeding plumage from late fall through winter.

Photography tips

Isolate a single drake from the flock with a long lens to show off the long tail and white neck stripe.
Low winter sun from behind you lights the chocolate head and gray flanks.

Field ethics

Large flocks flush together; stay on dikes and trails and don't walk out onto the flats.

Where to look

Semiahmoo SpitWhatcom County · Peaks across 5 months
Lummi Flats & Red River RoadWhatcom County · Peaks across 5 months
Ferndale Road FieldsWhatcom County · Peaks across 5 months
Tennant LakeWhatcom County · Peaks across 5 months
South Fork Valley at SaxonWhatcom County · Peaks across 5 months
Padilla BaySkagit County · Peaks across 5 months
Samish West 90Skagit County · Peaks across 5 months
Wiley SloughSkagit County · Peaks across 5 months