Hi Tweets:
I went on a great midweek fieldtrip yesterday with Hugh Jennings and the
ELWAS group to Tukwila Pond Park, also known as "the back of Toys are Us"
in So. Center :-) and then on to Kent Ponds where I saw my first Ross's
Goose. And true to form, after looking for the Ross's in all the wrong
places and missing it all winter, I saw it about 6 different times
yesterday, including watching it late in the afternoon wheeling overhead w/
about 70 Canadian Geese at the Green River Natural Resources Area (Kent
Ponds). Let me tell you that is a beautiful bird, w/ it's black wingtips.
And it has quite a wing spread, at least 3/4's as wide as the Canadian
Geese. We even saw it leading the flock at one point during the day.
Thanks, Hugh, for a great fieldtrip, and my Ross's!
But now for the bad part. After the fieldtrip another birder named Jean
and I went over to the Black River Slough which is between Renton and South
Center off of Grady Way on Oaksdale. We expected to see the Great Blue
Herons on their nests at the heron rookery. The tree was totally deserted!
I was shocked, as the nests all had birds less than 3 weeks ago. Now there
were just two GBH's standing in the shallows. There did seem to be the
usual numbers of other birds in the marsh, which included Green-winged
Teals and other ducks and Canada Geese. Across the road in the Metro
enhanced wetlands park, there were lots of smaller birds on the various
ponds and on the grounds.
We met a fellow walking out of the Black River Slough marsh named Tom
Malphrus. He is kind of like a site manager and has been active with
fixing up Black River Slough into a wildlife area. He is very disappointed
that the GBH's have gone. He says they suspect it's because of Eagles.
Even though Jean and I didn't see an Eagle, Tom had seen an imm one
earlier in the day. We did see three Redtail Hawks circling over the
rookery, but I understand that Redtails don't bother GBH's.
Tom was a great source of information. He is a wildlife specialist and
works for the city of Renton. He's enthusiatic and has worked on the Black
River Slough both as a City of Renton Engineer and as a volunteer. He
would be glad to talk to or email interested people about the park. He
told us that it is 90 acres. He also told us about future development that
will be happening in neighboring lots to the East. That construction is
due to start in the summer. There will be a buffer zone, and some low-rise
buildings will be built.
Tom is hoping that the Eagles will leave later in the month and that the
GBH's will return to their nests.
To get further info about the Black River Slough which is a Renton City
Park, contact:

Tom Malphrus
Water Utility Engineer
Renton City
Utility Systems Div.-Planning Special Projects
425-430-7313(work)
tmalphrus at ci.renton.wa.us

Reported by Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at worldnet.att.net