we took the short drive up to the Weaver Creek Spawning Channel. Even though we've lived here for close to 20 years this is the first time we've managed to visit when there are actually salmon there!
and Salmon there were! Seeing them all sort of brings home the fact that to get to Weaver Creek, all these salmon are swimming right past us here at the Chehalis Estuary.
This sign, posted at the entrance lists the counts for the 3 salmon species, the red ones being the Sockeye, the smaller black ones being the Pinks and the big mottled ones the Chum. The Chum are the ones that are now starting to show up along the shoreline at Eagle Point Park.
this is Weaver Creek that branches off from the Harrison River and is the 'highway' that the salmon travel up to get to the spawning channels. There was a Great Blue Heron perched down there right in the middle of the creek.
I was surprised by the lack of birds. Not a single Bald Eagle and any time we've been here before there have always been Dippers....maybe they don't show up until the salmon have left. There were a few Gull like the one above (really not sure what kind it is), but not nearly as many as one would think!
on the way back we stopped in at the Chehalis Hatchery....this is the natural creek, in fact I think a branch of the Chehalis River that leads to the Hatchery....those Salmon are Pinks. Again, there were no birds except one heron and a few gulls...again, have never not seen a dipper on any previous visit!
No comments:
Post a Comment