There was a collective intake of breath. “There!” exclaimed at least two of us, pointing out the car window.
The car went very quiet. Bryan turned off the engine, and we all pressed our faces to the windows. The misty agricultural field across the road shone bright white, but not with snow. Thousands and thousands of snow geese were devouring the field. We had found the Skagit Valley snow geese.
Cars were parked along either side of the road, passersby gawking at the sight of so many birds. And then suddenly, the snow geese began to take flight, their discordant calls filling the chill winter air as they formed an immense bird swarm. Even my mom and I, who don’t particularly like bird-watching, were in awe.
To some, this might be an apocalyptic sight—something out of The Birds. But watching the snow goose migration is one of those special wonders of nature that should be on any Pacific Northwest bucket list. To see the snow goose swarm in action, stay tuned for our video recap at the end of the post!
If you time your visit just right, you can catch the Skagit Valley snow geese as the daffodil fields are coming into bloom in the valley. Fields of snow geese together with fields of bright yellow daffodils make a memorable prelude to spring.
In today’s post, I’ll share the highlights of the snow goose migration and daffodil fields in northwest Washington state and explain when and where to go to experience them yourself.
Best Time to See the Skagit Valley Snow Geese
Snow geese overwinter in immense flocks in Washington State’s Skagit Valley. They descend on the agricultural fields from November – March, with the timing varying a bit from year to year.
Per the Nature Conservancy, when the Skagit Valley snow geese aren’t in Washington, they’re likely at or en route to their summer home at Wrangel Island in the Arctic. This annual snow goose migration between Wrangel Island and the Skagit Valley covers about 3,000 miles. That’s quite a journey!
You can distinguish the snow geese from other migratory birds in the valley (like swans) by their white feathers and black wing tips. For more on the differences between snow geese and swans, check out this resource from the Northwest Swan Conservation Association.
We visited on March 12, when the daffodil fields were also beginning to bloom in the Skagit Valley against a blue backdrop of mountains.
How to Find the Skagit Valley Snow Geese
The snow geese we saw were in Mount Vernon, a small Skagit Valley town that’s about an hour’s drive north of Seattle. On the weekend we visited, they were in the fields near the intersection of Best Road and Chilberg Road. Since they move around the valley, you’ll need to do some sleuthing to find them.
You can look for the Skagit Valley snow geese by driving around the country roads, but I’d recommend a more strategic approach using a free birding app called eBird. This was our first time using the app, which was recommended by a friend. I was shocked by how well it worked. It took all the guesswork out of finding the birds.
The eBird app is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It’s free of charge, and its power is in crowd-sourcing bird sightings. We were able to use the app to look up recent snow goose sightings near us. The sightings appear as markers on a map. Clicking on a marker shows an estimate of the number of birds at the location.
Three days before our trip, other eBird users reported a sighting of an estimated 10,000 snow geese. When we navigated to the map marker, we found the fields were still packed with snow geese. It’s not guaranteed the Skagit Valley snow geese will be in the same spot a few days after a sighting, but it’s certainly a good lead.
I’ve included a short eBird tutorial in this video on how to find the Skagit Valley snow geese. If you’d like help navigating the app, it’s a good place to start.
Skagit Valley Snow Geese and…Daffodil Fields?
If you search for the Skagit Valley snow geese in mid or late March, you’ll also have the chance to see the daffodil fields coming into bloom. I’ll go over those next!
On the day we went searching for the Skagit Valley snow geese, the huge snow goose flock was just a couple blocks around the corner from Roozengaarde, a farm that’s famous for its tulip and daffodil fields. There are many other daffodil fields in the Skagit Valley in addition to those at Roozengaarde, but Roozengaarde is particularly easy to visit, so I’d recommend going there if it’s in bloom. It’s open to visitors for free unless it’s tulip season. There’s a place to park (with restrooms), and you can walk out to see the flowers.
Like the Skagit Valley snow geese, it’s possible to plan ahead for the daffodils. Daffodil fields generally begin blooming in mid-March. Roozengarde maintains a bloom map of the flower fields in the area. The map has daffodil and tulip icons to differentiate the two predominant flowers grown, with each icon marking the location of a flower field. The daffodil and tulip icons are gray if the field isn’t blooming, and they turn yellow (for daffodils) and red (for tulips) when the field is in full bloom.
The bloom times vary depending on the variety of daffodil or tulip, so they don’t all change at once. The bloom seasons also vary from year to year, so it’s best to use the bloom map. In general, the daffodils tend to peak in the second half of March and the tulips in mid-April. Roozengaarde hosts an annual tulip festival that requires tickets later in the season.
Video of the Snow Goose Swarm and Daffodil Fields
To experience the snow goose swarm virtually and see the daffodil fields in bloom in the Skagit Valley, check out our video below.
Other Adventures in the Pacific Northwest
Thanks for joining us for the snow goose migration! If you enjoy the Skagit Valley snow geese, you may enjoy other easy wildlife-watching opportunities in Washington and Oregon. We’ve compiled our favorites on our wildlife-watching page.
They range from salmon jumping up waterfalls to a cave full of sea lions. We’ve chosen wildlife-watching opportunities that are great for the casual outdoor enthusiast or wildlife guru alike—in each case, you’re highly likely to see the wildlife if you go at the right time of year…None of them requires great patience or high-magnification equipment.
For more travel ideas in the Pacific Northwest, check out our PNW Trip Planner. You can find adventures near you and filter by season and difficulty level. There are weird and wonderful things to explore any time of year. The trip planner links to blog posts to help you plan your next adventure.
Happy exploring!
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