February 2023 President's Message
- Details
- Last Updated: January 30, 2023
by John Day
Dear Members and Friends of Skagit Audubon Society,
First, a belated Happy 2023 to everyone! The last three years have been particularly challenging for many of us and I hope this one offers more positive changes.
A couple of weeks ago, on a tip from some friends, my wife Martha and I visited Coal Creek east of Sedro Woolley to see salmon spawning. As we parked by the side of Minkler Road just west of the bridge, two county dump trucks were pulling out after being filled by a front-end loader from a huge pile of sandy, dark sediment that must have been excavated from the creek bed after the November 2021 flood event.
The creek channel downstream from the bridge looked like a construction zone because of the recent excavation, but despite this dozens of coho were splashing in the shallow riffles, with females turning on their sides to scoop out redds in the gravel with their tales and males vying with each other to fertilize the eggs as they were being laid. Fish carcasses in various states of decay lay at the edge of the water.