Five places to spot birds around the fjord

With a majestic and varied landscape as a background for your birding endeavors, Hood Canal is a gorgeous place to come search for the over 250 species that call the Olympic Peninsula home. Here are just five of the many spots you can see birds on the Canal.

1. Theler Wetlands

BELFAIR

135-acre preserve on Hood Canal, marshes, forested wetlands, river estuary. Fall, listen for Golden-crowned Kinglets; Bewick’s, Marsh, and Winter Wrens. Birds of prey in the air: Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Red-Tailed Hawks, Short-eared Owls. Winter brings Northern Shrikes to meadows.

2. Potlatch State Park

SKOKOMISH

57-acre park; Hood Canal saltwater shoreline and mixed forest. Birding: Fall-spring, high tide offers best waterfowl birding. Common Loons, Surf Scoters, Greater Scaups, Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Mergansers, and Grebes.

3. Oakland Bay

SHELTON

WDFW viewpoint on bay, mudflats, fringe of evergreen trees. Duck viewing: Northern Pintails, Mergansers, American and Eurasian Wigeons, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Gadwalls, Green-winged Teals. See Opreys spring-fall, Dunlins in winter. Common Ravens, and Bald Eagles visit year-round.

4. Twanoh State Park

UNION

182-acre park, shoreline, conifer forest. Birding: Loons, Marbled Murrelets, Grebes, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, Greater Scaups, Ruddy Ducks.

5. Jarrell Cove State Park

HARSTINE ISLAND

43-acre forested shoreline, saltwater bay. On rising tide, see Surf Scoters, Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common, Pacific, and Red-throated Loons.