Where To View Wildlife

Please direct
comments, questions and
suggestions to:

San Juan
Island NHP
P.O. Box 429
Friday Harbor, WA
98250

Telephone:
(360) 378-2902
(Wed.-Sun.)

FAX:
(360) 378-2615

E-mail:
mike_vouri@
nps.gov

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wildlife
sightings

Where to View

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Wildlife in the Park

Open Water (Haro Strait)

The open water of the archipelago is an extremely rich environment. Saltwater from the Pacific Ocean converges with freshwater from mainland rivers and, fueled by a 12 foot tidal exchange, currents, and winds, creates an upwelling of nutrients that feeds a vast web of life. Orca whales are often seen in these offshore waters from April to October. The three resident pods of orcas (J, K, and L-pods) now number close to 100 animals. They reside in this area because of the plentiful salmon from the Fraser and other rivers. The boldly marked black and white whales are easily recognizable by their wedge-shaped dorsal fins. Other marine mammals you may see include harbor seals, California sea lions, harbor porpoises, Dall’s porpoises, and minke whales.

South Beach

Walk this three mile stretch of narrow sand and gravel beach and enjoy an expansive view of Haro Strait and the Olympic Mountains. Birds including loons, grebes, cormorants, gulls, long-tailed ducks, mergansers, scoters, murres, and murrelets may be seen just offshore. Watch the tideline carefully for shorebirds such as sanderlings and western sandpipers especially during spring and fall migration. River otters may be seen fishing in the surf and then returning to denning areas upland. Scan the dunes and thickets just behind the beach for sparrows, western meadowlarks, and other songbirds.

OPEN SPACES (Redoubt & Pickett’s Lane)

The open spaces around the Visitor Center, Pickett’s Lane and the Redoubt are excellent places to see birds of prey, songbirds, and European rabbits. Watch for bald and golden eagles searching for rabbits, and for red-tailed hawks, northern harriers, and short-eared owls snatching rodents from the field. If you are lucky, you may even spy a red fox. This is a good place to see savannah sparrows and American goldfinches. Check the thickets and small groves of trees next to open spaces for chickadees, towhees, juncos, flickers, kinglets, warblers and flycatchers. In the spring, the open spaces abound with colorful wildflowers including camas, stork’s bill, buttercups, lupine, forget-me-nots, field chickweed, and chocolate lillies

Grandma's Cove

Stroll through an open field and thickets to this small, sandy beach. You will find typical rocky shores habitat here, too. The outcroppings and tidepools are rich with marine invertebrates such as chitons, sea anemones, crabs, and seastars. The rocks are slippery with kelp so be extremely careful. Look overhead for gulls and terns, in the surf for harlequin ducks, and on the rocks for oystercatchers and turnstones. The uplands take on a blue glow with seashore lupine in the spring

Jakle's Lagoon

Walk the dense forest trail to the quiet of Jakle’s and Third lagoons. On your walk through western redcedar, hemlock, and Douglas-fir you may hear or see pileated, downy or hairy woodpeckers foraging in older trees and downed woody debris. Chickadees, nuthatches, creepers, juncos, pine siskins and towees may be nearby, too. Over the beach, look for rough-winged swallows; greater yellowlegs and killdeer near the tideline; and buffleheads, wigeons, mergansers, scoters, loons, and grebes just offshore. This is a favorite place for river otters. Belted kingfishers and great blue herons feed in the lagoons.

Mt. Finlayson Trail

This is an easy open space trail overlooking the shoreline and the strait. It is a good place for eagle watching. Both bald eagles and golden eagles are often present, plus red-tailed hawks and American kestrels. Cooper’s hawks and sharp-shinned hawks are nearby in the forest along with great horned owls. Northern harriers are often seen hovering over the fields looking for rodents in the tall grass. Northern flickers are plentiful, plus a variety of songbirds in the spring and summer. Look for black-tailed deer in the margin between the open space and the forest.

Fourth of July Beach

Located on the west boundary of the park, this narrow sand, gravel, and cobble beach slopes gently to Griffin Bay. Birdwatching is best in the fall when migrating birds rest here, and in the winter when many species of waterfowl seek the shelter of the bay during rough weather. This is a good place to see loons and grebes. In the spring and summer, check the trees and open space behind the beach for flycatchers, sparrows, warblers, and hummingbirds.

This page was written by Susan Vernon, park volunteer.