Subject: Marymoor Park
Date: Feb 16 10:55:01 1995
From: "Nunnallee, Dave" - DNUN461 at ecy.wa.gov



James West wrote:

"I'm a regular (at least once a week) visitor to Marymoor Park...Marymoor
hosts some rather unexpected regulars ...Have seen Lazuli Buntings in that
area..."

I have found it peculiar for a number of years that Marymoor Park, in
Redmond, isn't mentioned more often in birding circles. In my opinion,
Marymoor is a much better birding area than Lake Sammamish State Park on the
opposite end of Lake Sammamish, which which seems to be birded and discussed
much more often.

Marymoor has a very nice variety of habitats... river riparian, open
savannah, hidden buttercup meadows (if you know where to explore), marshy
wetlands, and dense deciduous woods. As a result, there is a good variety
of bird species which can be found there. American Bittern is pretty common
there, vireos and grosbeaks are common in summer, and in the shrubs near the
loop trail parking area I have seen nice surges of migratory warblers in the
spring in past years. At the extreme SE corner of the park, accessible from
E. Lk. Sammamish Parkway near the old mill pilings, the old railroad grades
provide an interesting change, and I once saw a Pine Grosbeak there.

Unfortunately, and this is the reason I don't visit the park too often these
days, King County in its infinite wisdom located a model airplane flying
area adjacent to the main nature trail, and those (I'm trying hard not to
curse) model planes regularly scream directly overhead while you're trying
to bird there. Can be intensely aggravating, and I've seen the operators
intentionally use the planes to harrass Harriers over the meadows on several
occasions. But on the opposite (Sammamish River) end of the trail the noise
is distant and subdued. What a great improvement it would be to get rid of
those model planes! James, has this situation improved any of late?

Anyway, despite this aggravation, the park has some excellent habitat and at
times some quality birding.

Dave Nunnallee
dnun461 at ecy.wa.gov
Bellevue, WA