New Year’s quadrupled our swan population from three to at least 12, and brought in a pair of Eurasian Teal. The teal look much like our green wing teal, but the male lacks the upright crescent marking toward the front of his chest, and instead has a white row of feathers along his upper wing. The teal rested a few days and moved on. The swans have remained. The highest swan count I have heard is 20.
I was treated to quite a show Christmas day when a flock of golden-crowned kinglets and brown creepers moved through some low willows next to the causeway, too close to even focus binoculars on them. The kinglets showed their yellow crowns, and were at, or just either side of, eye level, crawling up and down the limbs and flitting through the branches. It was quite a show!
There are frequent sightings of the river otters and bald eagles. On any sunny day, red slider turtles may be spotted out on logs, and when the water iced over, they were seen swimming below the ice from the observation platforms of either boardwalk. The wood ducks usually hang out along the North Shore, also the area where the hooded mergansers are most often seen. One of our great blue herons likes to roost in a willow in the narrow strip between the causeway and lakeshore. With the leaves off the trees, he is pretty much out in the open. With his head and neck tucked in for a snooze, he lacks the heron profile (long neck and bill) and just looks like a big slate- blue bird. He is much photographed, due to the straight sightline, relative nearness, and his large size, but many people walk by without noticing him.
The Volunteer Rangers are still in the park. No longer sponsored and supported by the city, we have permission to continue independently. We are looking at ways to continue the program, including possible affiliation under an existing 501c3 group.
Our January First Sunday public walk turnout was quite good, and First Sunday leaders are already scheduled for the next several months. Rangers voted to hold the walk every first Sunday. (Previously the walks were canceled on holiday weekends coinciding with the first Sunday.) Rangers have volunteered to cover group scheduling that the city used to handle through laid-off coordinator Teresa Sollitto, and we are working out other details and redefining our mission.
Nighttime Beach Walks
The lowest tides of the year occur in daytime in the summer, but the pattern is reversed in the winter. The lowest tides are at night. The Seattle Aquarium holds night low tide beach walks in the winter season, and the sea critters seen at nighttime low tides are often different from those seen in daytime summer low tides. The next nighttime beach low tide walk sponsored by the Aquarium is Jan. 29 at Alki Beach from 8 to 10 p.m. Beach naturalists will be on hand to lead small groups, and there will be information tabling by several environmental groups such as People for Puget Sound.
Native Plant Stewardship Training
The City of Redmond has joined with Kirkland, Sammamish, Bellevue, King County, and the Washington Native Plant Society to offer over 100 hours of intensive training covering native plants, soils, restoration, habitat, hydrology, ecology, working with volunteers, grant writing, organizing events, and other related topics. Graduates “pay” their tuition through volunteer hours, two-thirds to a sponsoring city/county, and one-third to related areas for the Native Plant Society, King Conservation, and other related groups. Applications are available at www.wnps.org/npsp/king/program.html, where additional information is posted. Training is 10 weeks, Fridays, April through June, with several Saturday field trips.
This is likely to be the last chance to be part of a graduating “class” of this long successful program, as grant funding sources are drying up with the current economy.
Green Calendar
See www.EastsideAudubon.org for more information:
Special programs on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6 on winter birds for adults and families.
Children’s activity: Children make a birdhouse to take home Feb. 6. Event held at Lewis Creek Park environmental center. Please pre-register.
This group offers many other walks and meetings. Information on all events is available at their website, listed above.
Washington Native Plant Society offers a free workshop on creating wildlife habitat in restoration projects (bats, amphibians, birds, other urban wildlife) Saturday Feb. 6. Must Pre-register. Event at Beaver Lake Park in Sammamish.
Janice Johnson is an active volunteer with several environmental groups’ activities.
