The Salish Sea is a productive environment for wildlife, especially birds. Located along the Pacific Flyway, more than 200 species of birds frequent the Islands and surrounding waters. As such, many birders consider the San Juan Islands to be one of the best birdwatching areas in the state. With a little patience and a keen eye, it is possible to spot cormorants, pigeon guillemots, glaucous-winged gulls, black oystercatchers, brant geese, harlequin ducks, black and ruddy turnstones, rock sandpipers, surfbirds, dunlin, black-bellied plovers, sanderlings, wandering tattlers, western sandpipers, brown pelicans, Heermann’s gulls, killdeer, Caspian terns, peregrine falcons, great blue herons, and many other bird species.