Bird Wise Observations: An Event Space Owner
We’re talking to various user groups for their experience and best practices in response to the visiting birds. Katie Clements and her husband Brock Clements own Saltbox Barn, a special events space on Brock’s mother Jan Johnson’s Fir Island farm. Katie is also a birder and a member of the Be Bird Wise coalition. Her family welcomes visiting bird enthusiasts to the Saltbox Barn parking area between October and April when the wild birds are present in Skagit. Drive by the Saltbox Barn on Fir Island Road and you might spot a “Birds Only Beyond This Sign” posting along the fence or in the field. Katie shares her observations of both the wild birds and the people they attract to her family’s property.
“Birds Only Behind This Sign” says exactly what I’ve been trying to communicate as a landowner for years! I’m grateful for these signs; they speak for me and many other Fir Island landowners.
Our family is privileged to own a space that people want to access for viewing the birds that come to Skagit. I came into birding myself in 2014 and appreciate other people’s interest in the birdlife here. Now people can stop and park in the Saltbox parking area during the birding season and be safely off the road and within viewing distance of birds like swans and snow geese. Our experience is most people don’t venture beyond the fence of the parking area, where “Birds Only Beyond These Signs” is posted.
This off-season use is a way we can share our property. During the spring and summer when the larger migratory birds aren’t here, we host events. I feel good that we can share the property with others. We’re honoring the historic land and building use, keeping them in use, keeping our land rural.
We see so many birds: herons, teals, gadwalls, Northern harriers, eagles, turkey vultures, barn owls, red-wing blackbirds, songbirds, and of course snow geese and swans. Swans like the fields no matter the crops (it might be barley, potatoes, corn any given year). The swans are on our farm more than the snow geese.
I love that I can see as many as 20 species in ten minutes, and support other people’s interest in the birds that might be on our property. The herons hold a special place in my heart!
If you do not have a long-standing relationship with the landowner, assume no trespassing, even when there’s no signage posted. My advice to anyone who does have permission is to double check every year because ownership or circumstances of the land use may have changed.
As a bird lover myself with the privilege of frequenting our family farm, I’ve witnessed the multifaceted relationship between birds and landowners. To a landowner’s point of view, the visitors can be disruptive. Photographers and hunters are willing to go to great lengths to get the shot. I’ve watched individuals encroach too close on nesting owlets, hanging around far too long. In other parts of the Skagit I’ve seen throngs of people and vehicles line up for hours along the side of the road to observe the feeding habits of owls.
To me the birds are nature; they’re here for no one and everyone. But behavior that disregards the sanctity of nature and the rights of property owners troubles me, and has made my passion for birding less enjoyable.
I appreciate what Be Bird Wise is trying to do in addressing these concerns. Be Bird Wise collaborates with landowners, including my family, to establish designated spaces where people can safely and lawfully appreciate the beauty of birds. I’m glad we can help reduce unsafe parking and the pressure on our neighbors by offering our parking area.
I encourage everyone to spread the word about Be Bird Wise and to always practice respect for both nature and private property while engaging in outdoor activities in the Skagit area and elsewhere.
By: Bryony Angell
Photos: Katie Clements