Vacation! All you ever wanted! Just maybe not in the middle of a cold snap
and a pandemic. Looking for entertainment over the Seattle Public Schools midwinter break (February 15-19) or just Presidents Day Weekend? We ve got you covered.
1. Go snowshoeing.
Our guide to all things snowshoe covers local gear makers and history, how to avoid avalanche danger, and the 10 best snowshoe hikes in the area. If you haven t tried the sport, strap on some goofy footwear and stomp around the mountains to stay warm.
2. Explore Seattle s playgrounds.
Seattle Met editor in chief Allecia Vermillion deployed her own two highly certified (if underpaid) playground testers to the city s many structures and slides to create a list of Seattle s Destination Playgrounds. This newly updated investigation isn t afraid to speak the truth, like that the Carkeek salmon slide is more flash than fun.
Annual bird count carries on through pandemic wenatcheeworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wenatcheeworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The annual Padilla Bay Christmas Bird Count carried on this year, with a few modifications because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On a drizzly Saturday morning, Jeff Osmundson and Colleen Shannon set up a spotting scope atop a dike outside La Conner, bundled up against the weather and listening closely for the cries of birds.
âFor a lot of people who like to look at birds, no weather is worse than staying home,â said Osmundson, president of the Skagit Audubon Society.
Osmundson and Shannon are longtime participants in the count, surveying locations throughout the 15-mile circle around Padilla Bay, and said they enjoy participating in this kind of citizen science.
The State Parks Commission determined this week that should the Navy be allowed to conduct special operations training in Deception Pass State Park and 27 others the training would not cause significant environmental harm if certain conditions are met.
Those conditions outlined in what is called a mitigated determination of non-significance include avoiding active restoration sites, avoiding protected plant and animal species, and not training during nesting seasons for sensitive birds.
State Parks also proposes conditions on the Navy proposal, including that it not bring real weapons into the parks, not spy on park users, and that it coordinate training dates and locations with tribes.
FIR ISLAND â From atop a dike Monday morning on Fir Island, Skagit Audubon Society President Jeff Osmundson and group member Tim Manns could identify the birds in all directions.
A great blue heron to the north, a bald eagle to the south, snow geese flying overhead and dozens of dunlin flocking to the exposed shore of Skagit Bay â to name a few.
Manns and Osmundson trained their spotting scopes on each species for U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) while they rattled off facts about the birds most often seen in Skagit County.
Larsen is touring birdwatching sites with Audubon Society groups in the stateâs 2nd Congressional District because heâs concerned about an upcoming change to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.