Waterfront Park | Waterfront Birding Event | Kimberle Stark
There are countless places to enjoy birds. Seattle Audubon members offer their suggestions for some lesser-known locations in the area that you might consider for your next local birding adventure.
Cedar River Trail
The Cedar River Trail runs along the Cedar River between Maple Valley and Lake Washington. Cedar River Park is at the mouth of the river in Renton where it empties into Lake Washington.
“For a long time, the Cedar River Trail and Park continued to be favorite locations of mine for a variety of gulls, waterfowl, passerines, the occasional Green Heron, terns, shorebirds, owls, hawks, Bald Eagles, and the Boeing Plant’s resident Peregrine Falcons.”
-Etta Cosy
Herring’s House Park and həʔapus Village Park
These adjacent parks are important archaeological, cultural, and ecological sites along the Duwamish River.
“The park was built in 1999 as a part of the Super Fund cleanup effort, designed as habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon with an intertidal estuary. This unique habitat attracts many migratory species as they move up the coast, including tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, and thrushes. On any given day one might find wrens, kinglets, sparrows, and jays, alongside ducks, gulls, and raptors.”
-Deb Heiden
Pier 62 Waterfront Park
Waterfront Park is a 20-acre park along the downtown shoreline with views of Elliott Bay and the urban skyline.
Constellation Park
A West Seattle shoreline park made for tide pool enthusiasts.
“At low tide, shorebirds like Black Turnstones and Sanderlings can be seen foraging on the intertidal vegetation. Sea ducks such as Common Goldeneye, Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead, and Surf Scoters forage on small fish and vegetation. In winter, a variety of mergansers, grebes, and loons dive for fish. As an added bonus you may see a California sea lion, Harbor seal or even a pod of Orcas.”
– Deb Heiden
Click on the map to see some of the other Hidden Gems mentioned by our members. In addition to the parks and greenspaces highlighted above, you might also consider Martha Washington Park, Freeway Park, Occidental Square, or Twin Ponds.
Explore other articles in this issue of EarthCare Northwest | Summer 2022
Enhancing Environmental Education with Art | Earthcare Northwest
Observation – Sound Processing – Positive Experience – Conservation. These are some of the important ways Seattle Audubon’s youth programming is developing a deeper understanding of scientific concepts while also cultivating a sense of stewardship toward the environment, all through forms of artistic expression. Learn how you can develop these skills with the children in your life through several fun videos.
Songs aren’t just for the birds | Earthcare Northwest
If you created a band of birds who would you make your lead singer? Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser lets us in on her own love of bird song, and her second passion, music. As a baritone horn player and a singer, she fills us in on some of the subtleties she hears in “bird music.”
Nesting in Trash | Earthcare Northwest
From scientific illustrations, to humorous pandemic postcards, to birds cuddled up with candy wrappers, Laurel Mundy finds ways to connect her work as an artist to conservation actions we all can take on behalf of birds. She also fills us in on how she is able to create her art from her 240 square foot tiny home.
2020 Christmas Bird Count Report
Nearly 200 participants counted birds during the 2020 Christmas Bird Count Feeder Watch for the Seattle count area.