Birders' top spots: Marine Park, Blaine

	ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Western grebes are among the waterbirds commonly seen at Marine Park in Blaine.
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Location: Whatcom County, adjoining the Canadian border.

Habitat: Municipal park with sandy beaches and grasslands by intertidal mudflats and marine waters of Drayton Harbor.

Best seasons for birding: Year-round.

Birds commonly seen: This excellent site for waterbirds, especially in winter, features common and Pacific loons; red-necked, western and horned grebes; long-tailed ducks; Barrow's and common goldeneyes, northern pintails, American wigeons and Bonaparte's gulls. Also watch for yellow-billed loons, white-winged and surf scoters, harlequin ducks, bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

Viewing tips: Marine Park trail, a half-mile long, connects covered observation decks. A public fishing dock overlooks breakwater with large breeding colonies of double-crested cormorants and glaucous-winged gulls. Best birding is during the 2-3 hours before incoming tides. See short-eared owls, savannah sparrows and shorebirds at nearby 1.5-mile-long Semiahmoo spit.

Access: From Interstate 5 northbound, take Exit 276 (Blaine City Center). Turn west onto Peace Portal Drive. Drive 0.1 mile. Turn right (west) onto Marine Drive, then turn right into Marine Park. Park is wheelchair accessible. To reach sand spit, drive west around Drayton Harbor perimeter 6.2 miles to Semiahmoo Park.

Source: Audubon Washington. For free maps of Washington birding sites, call 866-922-4737 and ask for Great Washington State Birding Trail maps ("Cascade Loop" or "Coulee Corridor"), or request online at www.wa.audubon.org.

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