While I have not been in the park much these last two weeks, there have been some bird observations exciting enough that emails went out on them. Ranger Ernie got a spectacular picture of a dowitcher (shorebird) feeding on the North Beach. At the time, he was still awaiting word from our master birders if it could be identified from the photograph as a short billed or long-billed dowitcher. Short-billed would be a “first confirmed sighting” for the park; long-billed is an uncommon sighting there.

Mid-month, Nancy passed word that both a swan and a western grebe were spotted. The swan was still present in the bay on October 29. A single swan Thanksgiving week was the initial sighting of swans last fall, and this is more than a month earlier. It only stayed one day last year, but this one has already been here more than a week. I, and others, hope the swans that wintered here last year will all return this year

The bald eagles are back. Ranger Mark reported a barn owl sighting. The western screech owl is still often roosting off the East boardwalk. He gets slightly easier to spot as leaves shed off the willows. (Easier being the operative term. He looks a lot like a branch and almost can only be seen if the “branch” is there one day and not another. Negative space is the term for this phenomenon in art and desktop publishing). I had a ruddy duck in the Bay last week, and heard Virginia rail and marsh wren.

A tremendous amount of planting was done on October 17 by a group of dedicated volunteers (my rain gauge was at 3 inches between Friday evening and 10 a.m. that Saturday, and it kept raining much of the day). A number of new plant species were added that are expected to do well, as well as more of many stalwarts already present naturally in the park. Many provide food along with shelter. More blooming native shrubs are added, especially near the walkways by current restoration sites. We will all enjoy the results of this work next spring and summer.

Utility Tax

This is being written prior to the election results on Proposition 1, so while readers will know the outcome, I do not. Here are a few more examples of expected impacts, which may affect you and your city if the levy failed:

• Cuts to Neighborhood traffic control program, including eliminating the 50 percent allocation of one full time employee to coordinate the program, reducing the pedestrian flag program, reducing traffic solutions mitigation (speeding and other ongoing safety issues).

• Eliminates city support for tourism coordination not covered by the lodging tax. Eliminates funding for an economic development intern. Eliminates support for special events volunteers. Eliminates funding for outside consulting or grants made by the Cultural Council. Reduces of Neighborhood

• Matching Grants pool by more than 70 percent.

In reviewing the entire spreadsheet, what struck me was how much maintenance of public space in many different areas is at risk, especially for parks. It got me remembering how much people used to complain about the shabbiness of Juanita Beach Park just before it was taken over by the city from King County. People were upset that the park was not up to “Kirkland standards” – not realizing it was not, at that time, a city park. It strikes me that our city as a whole may be going down to similar low maintenance standards if the levy failed. That is something I hope does not happen.

Green Calendar

• Sustainable Kirkland, Thursday Nov. 12 6:30 p.m. Go to www.sustainableKirkland.org for information.

• Sustainable Futures Book Club, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at Merrill Gardens on Kirkland Way in Kirkland. Egan, Timothy: “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl”; or Apfelbaum, Steven: Nature’s Second Chance: Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm.

• Nov. 17, 9 a.m. bird walk at Juanita Bay Park. Meet at the kiosk by the parking lot. No pre-registration required.