Skagit Wildlife Area - Headquarters (Skagit) Unit - March 27, 2014

I was on the tail end of a nasty cold and cycling, skiing, or hiking didn't sound too good.  I opted for an easy drive up to the Skagit Valley for some easy walking and birding.  A stop at Pleasant Ridge Farm in Rexville and the Breadfarm in Edison would add a hunting and gathering element.  Plus the daffodils would be at peak but still too early for tulips.

The Skagit Wildlife Area - Headquarters (Skagit) Unit is one of 16 separate units in the Skagit region owned and managed for the benefit of wildlife by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW).  The Skagit Unit includes 190 acres of mostly estuary and tidal wetland.  This is also stop 64 on the Cascade Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail.

Great Washington State Birding Trail

I parked at the big parking lot at the eastern end.  I checked out the boat ramp where an old barge was tied.  I followed the only path here, which is the dike trail that is basically a gravel road on and next to a newly constructed dike.  The path forks at the tide gate on Wylie Slough so you have two options.  I took the left path, basically out and back, for a total of two miles for the day.  It was a beautiful day of clearing weather with big clouds and blue skies.  The trees had not yet leafed out but the salmonberry was in bloom as the harbinger of spring.  An eagle's nest was already active.

I ran into a gentleman on a bicycle along the way who explained some of the controversy surrounding a recent restoration project in this area.  He spoke with a Scottish brogue and had a beautiful and very friendly golden lab.  So bicycles and dogs are probably allowed here.

The recent controversy is the Wiley Slough Restoration Project implemented in 2009 to restore 157 acres back to tidal estuarine habitat primarily to help with Chinook salmon recovery.  The 157 acres had been formerly diked off from tidal and river influence and was readily accessible to walk-in hunters and wildlife watchers.  The recovery operation involved the removal of the old dikes and the moving of the Wylie Slough tide gate to open the area to tidal and riverine flooding.  New dikes were constructed further away from the river.  The restoration project reduced the area of access that hunters formerly had.  You can now see a lot of dead trees in the restoration area, trees that cannot tolerate wet feet or brackish water.

It was a great few hours here, added a new bird to my list (Greater yellowlegs), and I learned a little something.

Entrance to Skagit Wildlife Area

Old barge at the boat launch

Salmonberry

Dike trail

Cattails fading

Eagle's nest

Looking out to Skagit Bay

Satellite view and the route (adapted from http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/)

Bird list for the day:

Canada Goose

Trumpeter Swan

Gadwall

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Ring-necked Duck

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Great Blue Heron

Northern Harrier

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

American Coot

Greater Yellowlegs

hummingbird sp.

Tree Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

American Robin

European Starling

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Kent Ponds - Killing Time

It was a Sunday and I had to be in downtown Seattle at 9 am and then pick somebody up from the airport around 1 pm.  This gave me a couple hours of tween time to kill.  Kent Ponds was the perfect place, only 15 minutes from the airport.  I had never been to the Kent Ponds which made it even more desirable a place to visit.

Kent Ponds is properly known as the Green River Natural Resources Area or GRNRA.  The GRNRA is 304 acres of open space that was converted from an abandoned sewage lagoon system into largest man-made, multi-use wildlife refuges in the United States.  It includes ponds, meadows, woods of alder and cottonwood, a trail system, and three observation towers.  It is also one of the region's birding hotspots.  More info on the GRNRA here:

City of Kent - Green River Natural Resources Area

The morning was clear and crisp as I hit the trail from the western side of the GRNRA.  The region had been under a cold spell for over a week of sub-freezing temperatures.  I followed one of the paths toward the large lagoon, then rounded the lagoon to the outlet works.  I saw no person except a jogger (btw, no jogging according to the sign).  I did see a nice, fat coyote, about 200 yards away who kept an eye on me as a viewed him through my binoculars.  The lagoon was almost entirely frozen over making for a safe resting pad for a number of ducks and one lone Trumpeter Swan.

West entry from Anderson Park off of Russell Road

Typical meadowland at GRNRA

View from the tower with Mount Rainier visible through the morning haze.

Observation tower

The lagoon with a lone Trumpeter Swan in the center.

The lagoon outlet.

The route, 1.7 miles round trip.

GRNRA map (Rainier Audubon Society)

Rainier Audubon - Kent Ponds