Beauty of Northwest Wilderness: December 2018

Padilla Bay

Padilla Bay is located where the Skagit River meets the Salish Sea. It has very extensive eelgrass beds on the west coast, second to Izembek Lagoon. The eelgrass (鳗草) is a kind of saltwater plant, which grows in shallow estuaries (入海口). It's an important native grass harboring small salmon, crab, and other invertebrates that, in turn are food for the eagles, herons, otters and seals.

Brant are small, stocky geese with black heads and necks. They have a white ring around the neck and are distinctly white underneath the tail. The eelgrass is their primary source of food and freshwater. So every year Brant will migrate from come to visit it.

Brant (https://www.allaboutbirds.org)

Padilla Bay Trail

This is 4.4 mile round trip tail. This hike can be enjoyed by almost anyone in any season. It is also a very trail to watch birds! Before you start, be sure to check out the large tree on the road to the trail head, there is a pair of bald eagles that sometimes hang out here.

Padilla Bay Trail

The name Padilla--which means 'breadpan' in Spanish--was given to the bay by early Spanish explorers, although native people had long taken advantage of the natural abundance of food found here. One of the first features you see as you start your walk is an oft-photographed old barn with some rusting equipment lying about in the mud. This is a remnant of one of the so called ‘stump farms’, land purchased cheaply after the area was logged in the early 1900s then converted to farming. Much as you may wish to explore the old barn, the timbers are rotten and the barn best left to the swallows. Great blue herons can frequently be seen hunting in the muck around the barn, maybe one will pose for you as you take your barn picture. [1]