Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve 2-18-13

It was the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) over the long President's Day weekend.  I was holding on to my third place in the Snohomish County bird count with a good chance for second place if I could score more species here at Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve at Thomas' Eddy, maybe even a Trumpeter Swan.  This is a gem of a Snohomish County park located on the flood plain of the Snohomish River set aside as a wildlife preserve.

When I arrived here on a President's Day Monday, I was the second car in the lot.  I had the whole 340 acres practically all to myself.  The main trail, a wide gravel path, takes a straight shot down from the upland lot directly across the floodplain meadow to the Snohomish River.  I veered left on a path leading to Shadow Lake, one of two oxbow lakes within the park.  Returning back to the main trail, looking right to the other smaller oxbow lake, Robins Pond, I spotted a male Common Merganser, a beautiful duck, almost all white, with a dark green head and bright red bill that I often see on swift moving rivers, not quiet ponds.  Duly noted and a new one to my GBBC list.

Where the main trail encounters the river, the trail divides in two opposite directions, a lesser used trail following the levee upriver and the other more heavily used following the levee downriver.  I followed the lesser trail for a short way then doubled back and took the trail leading downriver.

All in all a nice day.  I added a few more birds to my GBBC list, no Trumpeter Swans, but I did hold on to my third place Snohomish County bird count in the end.

The main trail

 Shadow Lake

 Snohomish River

 Map of Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve