What to look for in nature in Washington this April

When do shorebirds reach the Washington coast in April?

• Western sandpipers and dunlin at Bowerman Basin

  Western sandpiper passage peaks mid to late April; dunlin numbers peak from the end of March into April · Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Bowerman Basin, near Hoquiam

  The refuge reports hundreds of thousands of shorebirds in spring and says Bowerman Basin hosts up to half the migrants even though it holds only about 2 percent of the intertidal habitat. Western sandpipers and dunlin make up 80 percent of the spring birds, joined by short-billed and long-billed dowitchers and semipalmated plovers. Seattle Audubon's BirdWeb says western sandpipers become increasingly common from early April, and that the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network rates Grays Harbor a site of hemispheric significance. The Sandpiper Trail reaches into the salt marsh, so flocks can lift off beside you. BirdWeb warns that so much of the species gathers in so few places that disturbance counts, so keep to the trail.

• The Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival

  April 30 to May 2, 2027, per the festival's own site · Grays Harbor area

  The festival's website lists those dates and says plans are still underway, so watch it for the program and any registration. Its species pages feature semipalmated plovers, ruddy turnstones, least sandpipers and dowitchers. The refuge trail stays open in daylight hours all year, so you do not need a ticket to see the birds.

• Gray whales passing the outer coast

  Northbound migration runs February to June; coast watchers say March and April are usually best · High headlands and beaches on the Olympic coast, including La Push

  WDFW describes the northbound trip as lasting from February to June. A Peninsula Daily News coast report suggests clear mornings with the sun behind you, from a headland if possible, since wind chop hides spouts; find the spray first, then scan around it. A few whales, locally called Sounders, detour into Puget Sound, mainly from March to May according to Cascadia Research Collective. WDFW wants sightings sent in, with photos and coordinates.

Where are the wildflowers east of the Cascades in April?

• Balsamroot, lupine and paintbrush at Columbia Hills

  State Parks says peak week often falls in early April; Northwest Wildflowers gives a wider window of late March through April into late May · Columbia Hills State Park and Dalles Mountain Ranch, Klickitat County

  State Parks lists balsamroot, lupine and paintbrush for this park and suggests going on a weekday, early or late in the day, to avoid the crowds. The Northwest Wildflowers site points out that bloom can start as early as March and run into early June, so timing differs year to year. Farther up the Klickitat Trail near Lyle, State Parks says balsamroot lasts until late May.

• Golden hills at Ginkgo Petrified Forest

  April · Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park

  State Parks writes that the golden hills here are dotted with balsamroot, woolly pod, milkvetch and phlox in April.

• Palouse Falls and its canyon

  Spring, with flow varying from year to year · Palouse Falls State Park Heritage Site

  The Palouse River drops about 200 feet into a churning basin at the official state waterfall. The 94-acre day-use park has seasonal wildflowers, and State Parks states that all trails into the canyon and to the base of the falls are permanently closed. Stay at the designated viewpoints.

• The Apple Blossom Festival in Wenatchee

  April 22 to May 2, 2027, per the festival's website · Memorial Park and downtown Wenatchee

  The festival's site lists those dates and the 2027 theme, "Having the Time of Our Lives." The festival is built around the valley's orchard bloom, but the trees follow the weather rather than the calendar, so nobody can say this far ahead which week the petals peak.

What blooms and leafs out in western Washington in April?

• Skagit Valley tulips

  The festival has run April 1 to 30 in past years; 2027 dates and bloom timing are not yet posted · Skagit Valley farms near Mount Vernon and La Conner

  The festival's website says only "See you in spring 2027" for now. Bloom depends on the weather. In 2026, Cascadia Daily News reported that one farm expected a plateau of color from April 10 to 14, against a typical April 15 to 25 window, and that another farm expected blooms a week early. A grower quoted by KVAL said temperature matters more than rain, and that a hard freeze, hail or heavy rain are the real dangers.

• Bigleaf maple blossoms and new leaves

  March through June, per the Washington Native Plant Society; the flowers appear with or just before the leaves · Moist woods and forest edges on both sides of the Cascades

  The tree hangs loose clusters of pale yellow flowers, ten to fifty in a cluster and about two inches long, among the opening leaves. The plant society notes that the big, multi-trunked trees give birds and small mammals places to nest and that insects drawn to rotting limbs feed warblers, nuthatches, woodpeckers and finches. When the huge leaves open, it is a good week to start a leaf record.

• Pacific madrone in bloom

  Mid-March through June, according to Native Plants PNW · Dry, sunny, south or west-facing coastal bluffs, including the San Juan Islands and Port Angeles

  White, urn-shaped flowers hang in big drooping clusters and draw bees and hummingbirds. The bark peels in summer, so April is the time for blossom rather than bark. BirdWeb adds that on the San Juan Islands the yellow-rumped warbler nests in madrone rather than in conifers.

• Camas in the meadows

  Blooms April through July, per one conservation district · Wet prairies, oak woodlands and shallow marshes, mostly west of the Cascades

  Common camas sends up spikes of blue-purple flowers, each one an inch or two long, from plants that stand a foot to three feet tall. The Benton Soil and Water Conservation District calls it a historically important food for indigenous peoples. Never dig camas or pick a bulb for food: a poisonous look-alike, death camas, grows in similar places.

• Pacific rhododendron

  Expected to burst into color from late April to May, per the Coastal Interpretive Center · Woodlands and clearings on the west side

  The center names the Pacific rhododendron as Washington's state flower and expects color from late April into May. Look in shady woods on the west side.

Which frogs and toads are calling in Washington in April?

• Pacific treefrogs

  Calls are produced through the year except in the driest and coldest weather; choruses build in spring · Ponds, ditches, wet meadows and yards across the state

  WDFW calls the Pacific treefrog the most commonly heard frog in Washington. Males give a two-part "rib-it" or "crek-ek" call, and choruses carry for long distances. Much of the activity is at night. Go out at dusk and listen.

• Western toads

  Breeding starts mid-April at low elevations in western Washington and late April or early May at low sites in the east; later at higher elevations · Shallow water near shore in lakes, ponds and wetlands

  Females lay long strings of eggs, about 12,000 per clutch on average, on bare sediment or wrapped in plants. The species is a state candidate for protection, so look and do not collect. WDFW notes that a grabbed toad gives a rapid chirp and pulses its body.

• Columbia spotted frogs

  Late March to early April in the Columbia Basin; late April through early June in the Okanogan Highlands · East of the Cascade crest, from the Columbia Basin to the Okanogan and Blue Mountains

  The call is a faint series of six to nine low clucks, so you may need to be within about 16 feet to hear it. WDFW lists the frog as a state candidate species and a species of greatest conservation need, because Columbia Basin populations are declining.

• Great Basin spadefoots

  Breeding begins in late March in the Columbia Basin and is over within days; active until late October or early November · Shrub-steppe of the Columbia Plateau and Okanogan, in springs, seasonal pools, irrigation ditches and ponds

  These toads are explosive breeders, and their call is a monotonous, grating wa-wa-wa that WDFW compares to a snore or a low quack. Outside breeding they live on land and can remain buried for months. Warm, humid nights bring them out, though they often turn up on roads at night regardless of rain.

Which birds arrive in Washington in April?

• Orange-crowned warbler

  Arriving early in spring; as early as late March · Shrubby thickets and deciduous woodlands, especially aspen and willow; alder and mountain ash stands in migration

  Listen for an accelerating trill that drops in pitch at the end. BirdWeb says migrants use red-osier dogwood and blackberry thickets along lowland streams, so brushy creek edges are good places to wait.

• Yellow-rumped warbler

  Common from April, one of the first warblers to return · High in conifers during the breeding season; migrants anywhere with insects

  Two forms occur in the state. The Audubon's form, which breeds here, has a yellow throat, while the myrtle form, a migrant and winter visitor, has a white throat.

• Calliope hummingbird

  Late April to mid-May · Ponderosa pine zone, brushland and forest openings, mostly east of the Cascades

  BirdWeb says it is the smallest bird that breeds north of Mexico and the smallest long-distance migrant in the world, yet it is a Washington species of concern. It is a fairly common summer resident in the east and rare in the west.

• Vaux's swifts

  Late April and the beginning of May · Over rivers and forests; migrating flocks roost in large industrial chimneys

  The swifts nest in hollow trees, not chimneys, but BirdWeb says migrating birds increasingly use big man-made structures to roost.

• Burrowing owls

  Present from mid-March through August · Shrub-steppe of eastern Washington; the highest concentration is at the Hanford site and around the Tri-Cities

  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists them as a species of concern, and BirdWeb says they are seriously declining, especially in the Channeled Scablands, the Okanogan Valley and southeastern Washington. They nest in burrows they do not dig, and the females incubate seven to ten eggs for nearly a month. Watch from a distance.

• Spring waterfowl at Turnbull

  Spring migration mid-March through mid-May · Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge near Cheney

  The refuge says waterfowl use the wetlands along the auto tour route. Foot and vehicle traffic is limited to marked trails and roads from March 1 into mid-August, and no Discover Pass is needed because the refuge is federally managed. Hours change with the season, so check the refuge page before you drive.

What fishing and shellfish seasons open in Washington in April?

• Lowland lakes opener

  Traditionally the last Saturday in April; confirm the 2027 date in WDFW's rules · Hundreds of lowland lakes and ponds statewide

  WDFW has long said the last Saturday in April marks the start of the lowland-lakes season, and a 2010 release called it an opener that draws more than 300,000 anglers. In 2026 it fell on Saturday, April 25, when about 525 lakes and ponds were stocked with nearly 15.5 million trout and kokanee, including more than 2.1 million catchable-size trout. Not every lake follows the same dates, so read the lake's entry in the rules before you go.

• Razor clams

  No 2027 spring digs were posted when this page was written · Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks

  WDFW said in fall 2026 that all recreational razor clam digging was postponed because of elevated marine toxins. Digs return only after two tests taken 7 to 10 days apart fall below the health limit. Summer 2026 surveys found fewer clams at Copalis and Mocrocks than in recent years.

When is the last spring freeze in Washington?

What is April weather like in Washington, and what hazards come with it?

How much daylight does Washington gain in April?

What can you see in Washington's night sky in April 2027?

• Venus and a thin Moon at dawn

  The mornings of April 3 and 4 · Low in the east before sunrise

  Venus is still brilliant, at about magnitude -3.9, but it is sinking toward the Sun. Early in the month it comes up some seventy-odd minutes ahead of the Sun, and a little less each week. A slim crescent Moon, about 9 percent lit, sits near it on those two mornings.

• Jupiter and Mars with the Moon

  The evenings of April 14 and 15 · High in the evening sky, in Leo and Cancer

  Jupiter is the brightest steady light after dark and is up until the small hours at the start of the month. On the 15th a Moon 68 percent lit passes within a degree or so of it; the nearest pass is in daylight, so look on either evening. Mars, faded to about magnitude 0.0, lies roughly 3 degrees from the Moon that day.

• The Lyrid meteors, a poor year

  Active about April 14 to 30; peak predicted around April 22 to 23 · Northeast sky in the evening, with the radiant in Lyra

  The International Meteor Organization predicts the maximum near 6:41 p.m. Pacific time on April 22, still daylight here, and the American Meteor Society lists the night of April 21 to 22. Either way the Moon is nearly full. In Seattle it rises about 10:58 p.m. on the 22nd, so the dark window between evening twilight and moonrise is short, with the radiant still low. Plan on a handful of meteors an hour at most.

• The Pink Moon

  Full at 3:27 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, April 20; best evening is the 20th · Rising in the east in Seattle about 8:31 p.m. that evening

  Pink Moon is the common almanac name for April's full Moon; the names are traditions, not astronomy, and the Moon itself is not pink. The full moment comes in the afternoon, so the Moon that rises that evening already looks full.

What can Washington families do outside in April?

Safety notes for April in Washington