Drayton Harbor/Semiahmoo: Fading Gems?

Joe Meche is president of the North Cascades Audubon Society and also serves the chapter as newsletter editor and birding programs coordinator. He has been watching birds for more than 50 years and photographing birds and landscapes for more than 30 years.

My experiences over the years in this one special part of Whatcom County are numerous. The area is already seeing significant changes just below the international border and we might never again see some of the wonderful scenes that at one time were fairly common. If you will, allow me to reminisce.

It’s mid-February, and a frigid wind is blowing directly out of the northeast. Snow is falling and because of the wind it’s more of the horizontal variety. Despite the cold, I’m drawn along the shoreline north of the county park on the Semiahmoo Spit. The motivation to leave the warmth of my vehicle is a flock of more than 2,000 Pacific black brant feeding on eelgrass and sea lettuce as the tide begins to fall. The wind isn’t strong enough on the leeward side of the spit to dampen the distinctive vocalizations of a large flock of this unique species.

The tide continues to fall as evening approaches and I’ve been up close and personal with these birds for more than two hours. The sky in the west is marbled with sunset colors as the chill increases and finds its way through my layers, but I just can’t bring myself to leave. My video camera is rolling when by some unheard signal, the entire flock lifts as one and wheels across the water in a wide arc into the setting sun. The sight and the sounds of the departing flock are priceless!

On a beautiful day in late March, I’m savoring the warming rays of sunlight on the tip of Semiahmoo Spit. I’ve found the perfect place to set up my scope and spend several hours glassing the channel between the spit and White Rock, B.C. The action is fast and furious as I try to keep up with a veritable feeding frenzy that’s taking place coincidental to the herring run. There’s no one else around so it seems like the show is just for me.

Large numbers of double-crested and pelagic cormorants, long-tailed ducks, horned and red-necked grebes, and buffleheads are diving for food along with red-breasted mergansers, goldeneyes, and scoters. The main attraction, however, is the impressive number of loons diving in the deeper water just off the spit. Three species of loons are well represented but I continue to scan the rafts of birds for one special bird. The activity is so hectic that it’s challenging to stay focused – literally and figuratively. And then, there it is! A true prize of early spring birding in the Northwest – a yellow-billed loon!

The incoming late September tide slowly fills the mud flats of Semiahmoo Bay, just north of Marine Park in Blaine, and I have the perfect spot. I arrived early and set up tripod and scope to wait for the high tide. The location I’ve selected is the last part of the sandy, shell-strewn beach to be covered by water. I sit and watch as the shorebirds are pushed toward me. In a matter of a few hours, thousands of birds are feeding just a short distance away.

Dunlin and black-bellied plovers make up the majority of shorebirds at my feet but there are numerous black turnstones within the large group. Longer-legged marbled godwits and whimbrels work along the water’s edge a bit farther out but still within comfortable viewing range. The feeding birds are noisy and the noise takes on a different tone when the entire flock leaps into the air, suspicious of the nearby peregrine falcons. The highlight for me this day is sharing this favorite spot with a friend and observing a Hudsonian godwit, a rare bird for this part of the country.

From the public pier at the end of Marine Drive at the Blaine Harbor, the sounds of migrating Bonaparte’s gulls fill the air on a beautiful day in May. I observe as many as 1,000 of these small gulls, mixed in with the common glaucous-winged, mew, and ring-billed variety. On a tip from a local birder, however, I’m looking for a rara avis, a little gull. Patience and perseverance pay off after a short time and the distinctive smaller size and call alert me to the possibility. As the bird passes just a few feet away, it lifts its wings and I see the black underneath – it’s a little gull!

The preceding experiences were compiled from field notes that I’ve made over the years on visits to one of the premier bird watching sites in the Pacific Northwest – Drayton Harbor/Semiahmoo. This area has a long and documented history of the large numbers of birds that winter here and use these waters to feed and rest during seasonal migrations to the north and south. My early encounters here motivated me to nominate the site as one of Washington state’s first Important Bird Areas. The numbers alone were more than enough to make this special place a hands-down winner.

Over several years, I worked with the City of Blaine to promote the area as a bird watching destination, capitalizing on the nationwide enthusiasm and growing number of bird watching aficionados. I put together slide presentations for civic meetings to help community leaders and residents understand the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for healthy bird populations, which translate to healthy economies.

I also worked with the Washington Brant Foundation to bring a birding festival to the area to further this education process. Traditionally, black brant have depended on the gravel beaches of the Semiahmoo Spit to rest and feed on the rich eelgrass and sea lettuce beds. The idea of the festival was to raise awareness and promote the need to preserve these essential places for this unique species. The event that was originally named the Washington Brant Festival is now the Wings Over Water Northwest Birding Festival.

Coincidental to this promotional surge, I worked with Audubon Washington as it began its multi-year project of developing the Great Washington State Birding Trail (GWSBT). Birding trails have become quite popular throughout the country and provide a sensible approach to nature appreciation. The first loop of the GWSBT was the Cascade Loop and the premier site for winter birding on the loop is Drayton Harbor/Semiahmoo.

Enthusiasm is still there with conservation-minded parties but the message has not been heard by all. As of this writing, the Trillium Corporation is submitting numerous plans to essentially develop every square foot of the tip of Semiahmoo Spit. Part of the plan is to dredge 24 acres for marina expansion on the inside of the spit. Dredging for the first marina destroyed prime feeding grounds and caused a large displacement of birds. The adverse impacts of further development on the spit are always understated by the developer.

The very thought of bringing more humans and related activity to the spit is anathema to the concept of quality of life. More people will bring more boats and more pets will be on the beaches; more motor vehicles will bring more pollution and stress the already inadequate road that serves the spit. Quality of life will be in a downward spiral for both humans and wildlife. The spit will become a crowded and unattractive destination for those who wish to experience bird watching in a spectacular setting.

With views of Mount Baker and the North Cascades and the B.C. Coastal Range, the natural beauty of this area is unsurpassed. The protected waters are rich with food and shelter for numerous bird species that winter here, but this unique site is constantly under siege. The wildlife will move on when pressured by further development. No matter what deals might have been drawn up in the past or whose grandfather might have a clause, today is a new day and it’s time to protect Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo for the future and for the good of all not just the few. It’s time for the City of Blaine to simply say, “Enough!” §

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
The developers and the entrepreneurs must somehow be taught a new vocabulary of values.