Nature Watch For July

With warmer weather this month, most critters are more active during the cooler times of day - you'll probably have the best chances of seeing wildlife at dawn or dusk.

There's certainly lots of activity to take in: Various types of salmon have begun to spawn, and there are more ospreys, beavers and coyotes out and about.

For hikers, the alpine meadows are beginning to display their brightly colored wildflowers. What a reward!

What to watch for Where to look -------------------------------------------------------------. Bald eagles Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, near

Sequim. -------------------------------------------------------------. Chinook salmon Various hatcheries; good viewing at the

Issaquah Hatchery. -------------------------------------------------------------. Harbor seals Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, near

Sequim. -------------------------------------------------------------. Mountain Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic wildflowers National Park. -------------------------------------------------------------. Orca whales San Juan Islands. -------------------------------------------------------------. Coyotes Mercer Slough. -------------------------------------------------------------. Osprey along the Mountain Loop Highway.

-------------------------------------------------------------. Raccoons Nature Center at Snake Lake, Tacoma. -------------------------------------------------------------. Sockeye salmon Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Seattle. -------------------------------------------------------------. Tide pools Pacific coast and Puget Sound beaches. -------------------------------------------------------------.

- Compiled by Lisa Pemberton-Butler and Trace Blethen, Seattle Times staff reporters.

Sources: "Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year," by James Luther Davis; "Washington Wildlife Viewing Guide" by Joe La Tourrette; Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife; National Park Service.