From bighorn sheep in Northeast Washington to bald eagles in the Skagit Valley, the winter season offers wildlife viewing spectacles all across the state.

And now that snow is on the ground in eastern Washington, elk are on hand by the hundreds– and on view– at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) winter feeding stations.

Up to 1,500 elk appear each day at the WDFW Oak Creek Wildlife Area winter feeding station near Yakima, just off Highway 12 west of Naches. The best views can be had about 1:30 p.m., when new hay and alfalfa pellets are put out and elk are close to the parking lot fence near the visitor center. But any time of day is good for a look at hundreds of elk that have become accustomed to this supplemental feeding program. Senior Environmental Corps volunteers are available most days in the visitor center and the parking lot to talk about the elk, the feeding program, and the history of the area.

The L. T. Murray Wildlife Area west of Ellensburg also offers views of elk feeding at Joe Watt Canyon. Recent counts showed 900 elk at the area, including more than 30 branched bulls. To visit the site, take the Thorp exit from Interstate 90; turn right on Thorp Cemetery Road (one mile south of the exit); travel west for 2.5 miles and turn left on Watt Canyon Road. The feeding site is one mile past the turn. Parking is available at the site. Feed is put out at 8 a.m., but elk are visible at the site throughout the day, says Douglas Kuehn, wildlife area manager. For more information call (509) 925-6746.

About 100 bighorn sheep are visiting a winter feeding station at Cleman Mountain near Naches. For more information, call Oak Creek Wildlife Area at (509) 653-2390.

In northeast Washington, about 30 bighorn sheep are regularly coming into a winter feeding station at Sullivan Lake in Pend Oreille County. The site, located at the U.S. Forest Service's Noisy Creek Campground south of Metaline Falls, provides one of the best views of bighorn sheep in the state. Feed usually is restocked on weekends, but any cold and snowy day is a good bet for seeing some of these sheep. Be prepared for a quarter-mile, uphill walk over snow and ice from the parking lot to the feeding station. For more information, call WDFW's Spokane regional office at (509) 892-1001.

Meanwhile in western Washington, excitement surrounding the annual return of bald eagles will peak with the Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival Feb. 5 and 6. Over 400 eagles were counted in the Upper Skagit area earlier this month. Eagle watching and related events, including conservation displays, speakers, and entertainment, take place from Rockport to Marblemount along State Route 20. A Bald Eagle Interpretive Center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in the Rockport Fire Hall on Alfred Street. For more information check the festival website.

No matter where they watch wildlife, viewers are reminded to follow a few basic safety and courtesy rules: Leave pets at home; park off the roadway and away from private driveways; ask permission before entering private property; avoid approaching animals too closely and, above all, don't try to flush animals or deliberately alter their natural behavior.

Here are some other current recreational opportunities around the state:

Northern Puget Sound:

• Fishing: Steelhead fishing has been slow but fishers are finding some luck, especially in the Skykomish River system, according to Chuck Phillips, regional fish manager. Wild steelhead must be released now in 12 rivers and streams that are part of the Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers systems. Fishing also was recently closed near four WDFW hatcheries in the region so that enough fish can be obtained for future production. Fishers are reminded to check the WDFW fishing hotline at (360) 902-2500 for the latest information on rule changes.

• Hunting: The season may be closed but hunters still have something to look forward to with the Washington Sportsmen's Show, today (Jan. 26) through Jan. 30 at the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup. Hours are 1 to 9 p.m. today and Thursday; 1 to 10 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

• Wildlife Viewing: Besides the bald eagles in evidence in the upper Skagit Valley, the lower valley is teeming with wintering birds. Bird watching prospects are boosted by the recent end of waterfowl hunting seasons and the arrival of colder weather. Recent WDFW aerial surveys from Everett to Blaine showed over 270,000 dabbling ducks; more than 126,000 mallards, nearly 88,000 American wigeon and more than 49,000 Northern pintails. Besides those waterfowl, the area is a winter home to spectacular trumpeter swans, tundra swans and snow geese. More than 51,000 snow geese, 16 percent of them juveniles, were counted earlier this month.

Olympic Peninsula:

• Fishing: River conditions on the Olympic Peninsula have been excellent for steelhead, with good fishing expected for the next month on most major river systems. One angler in three reported success on the Quillayute River, while nearly one in two boaters landed steelhead on the Sol Duc. Fishing has been light on the Hoh, but the Bogachiel and Calawah rivers should offer good fishing for hatchery steelhead through the end of the month, when wild fish begin to predominate. Check the Fishing Hotline at (360) 902-2500 for any emergency closures in coming weeks.

• Hunting: Most hunting seasons are closed, but area hunters will have an opportunity to comment on proposed season alternatives for 2000 through 2002 at a public meeting scheduled tomorrow (Jan. 27). The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Bishop Center at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen. Public comments can also be filed via the Internet.

• Wildlife Viewing: Driven to lower elevations by the colder weather, Roosevelt elk are visible from Longmire at Mount Rainier National Park to the Washington coast. If accessibility is an issue, consider a trip to the Johns River Wildlife Area on Grays Harbor where 45 elk were spotted on a recent weekend. Renovations to the site, located mid-way between Aberdeen and Westport, were completed last summer including a paved half-mile trail leading to a hunters' blind. The area offers prime viewing of elk in the wild. Other recreation sites designed to be accessible to people with disabilities are listed in the state's Accessible Outdoor Recreation Guide.

Southwest Washington:

• Fishing: A number of local lakes have good numbers of catchable trout and even large broodstock fish up to 33 inches in length. Last week, WDFW released 158 trout weighing 5 to 11 pounds in Rowland Lake. Another 126 went into Spearfish Lake and 39 were placed in Northwestern Reservoir. The lakes are located between White Salmon and Dallesport. Try Klineline Ponds (Vancouver), Horseshoe (Woodland) and Kress (Kalama) lakes for the big fish. Horseshoe and Kress also are producing big steelhead. In the Gorge area, Tunnel, Little Ash, Kidney and Icehouse each have been planted with large WDFW broodstock trout. Those lakes were planted in early January but some big fish remain available. WDFW biologist Joe Hymer also reports some anglers fishing Riffe Lake near the dam in recent days have been catching limits of landlocked coho in the 11-inch range. Steelhead fishing has slowed some in southwest Washington but anglers continue to find fish in the Grays, Elochoman, Cowlitz, Washougal, Kalama rivers as well as both forks of the Lewis. Sport smelt fishing remains open in the Cowlitz River on Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 19. Hymer reports biologists are seeing moderate numbers of smelt in the Columbia (closed to sport smelt fishing), but the small fish haven't been showing up in the Cowlitz yet. Boat fishing for sturgeon in the Bonneville pool is improving. The best sturgeon fishing on the lower Columbia is between Bonneville and Cathlamet, Hymer reports.

• Wildlife Viewing: Cold weather has brought in large numbers of ducks. To keep warm while observing birds, try the new 4-mile auto-only tour route through the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge on the Columbia River. Call the refuge at (360) 887-4106 for more information. Vancouver Wildlife Area Manager Brian Calkins says late winter is the best time to see swans, geese, sandhill cranes and other waterfowl on the Shillapoo Wildlife Area. Bald eagles and great blue herons can be seen easily and they soon will be heading for their nests in the refuge. Most of the area can be viewed from the road and parking areas along its perimeter. Call WDFW's Region 5 office in Vancouver at (360) 696-6211 for more information. Shillapoo is located between Vancouver Lake/Lake River and the Columbia River. Take the Fourth Plain Boulevard off Interstate 5 and head west to get there. Fourth Plain eventually becomes Lower River Road.

Eastern Washington:

• Fishing: Extended freezing temperatures finally have left some ice on a few winter-only and year-round fishing waters, although anglers should be cautious about bigger lakes and places where snow cover hides ice conditions. Ice fishing for small perch is underway at Newman Lake just east of Spokane. Rainbow trout are being caught at Hog Canyon Lake in Spokane County. Shore fishing is good at Fourth-of-July Lake in Lincoln County. Sprague Lake is frozen near shore and open further out, creating difficult fishing conditions. Latest creel surveys in the Snake River drainage show steelhead anglers averaging about seven hours per fish caught in the Tucannon River and over eight hours per fish caught in the Touchet River.

• Wildlife Viewing: Bald eagles have been spotted throughout the region, scavenging for road-killed deer or working rivers and streams for spawned-out fish and winter-weary waterfowl. Where snow cover is deep, whitetailed deer have been raiding backyard bird feeders or haystacks; unless deer have been using such fare all winter, however, they may not do well until their digestive systems adjust to the new diet.

North Central Washington:

• Fishing: The upper Columbia River reservoirs -- Lake Roosevelt, Banks Lake, and Rufous Woods Lake – are producing nice rainbow trout. Net-pen-reared rainbows are also providing catches at Potholes Reservoir.

• Wildlife Viewing: Waterfowl watching could be good in Douglas, Grant, and Adams counties where lighter snow cover keeps grain field stubble attractive to ducks and geese. Keep an eye out for winter visitors to the area like snowy owls and goshawks.

South Central Washington:

• Fishing: Whitefish action is good in the Yakima and Naches rivers, with fish running 8 to 16 inches, caught on flies tipped with maggots; catch limit is 15 and special regulations are in effect in some sections (on the Yakima River, bait may be used on a single barbless hook from Roza to Easton Dams until Feb. 29; on the Naches River, bait may be used through March 31 and a single hook with a barb is okay). The Bumping, Tieton, and CleElum rivers also are open for whitefish only. Ice may make fishing some lakes in the region difficult, with insufficient ice depth for ice fishing itself.

• Wildlife Viewing: Thousands of ducks, geese, and other wildlife are feeding and resting at the McNary National Wildlife Refuge near the Tri-Cities now. Rivers and streams throughout the region are good places to see bald eagles.