Warning: The following report is by the organizer. Results may be
biased...
Hi Tweets:
This is Carol Schulz. The Field Trip to Kent Ponds, on 1/24/99 was a real
success. The former Kent Ponds has been turned into an an area now called
Green River Natural Resources Area, administered by the City of Kent Public
Works Dept. The site manager is Matt Knox, 253-437-2051. On Sunday we had
good weather, a good showing by the birds, and a large group of
enthusiastic Tweeters. The participants came from all over. There were
people from Pt. Angeles, and Pt. Townsend, and one guy from Houston? and
they were of all ages and abilities. The advanced birders helped the
beginners and intermediates, and people shared their scopes and birding
experiences. There were lots of sightings. We began at 8AM at the NW
corner of the Natural Resources Area on Russell Rd. near S 212th St. in
Kent, WA. It was clear and cold, w/ fog developing.
I gave out some info about the area which included: 1. Explanation of
GRNRA project. 2. Map showing the area, surrounding birding areas, and new
roads, and trails. 3. Bird Census taken 1/17/99 by Dave B, Roger O, and
Matt Knox. I wanted to not only explain the project, but to show that you
don't need to enter the area to experience good sightings and that the
areas around the outside can be the most productive.
At about 9:30 a group spotted a Barn Owl asleep in the pine trees at
Anderson Park which is outside the NW gate. He was very hard to see, near
the top of one of the middle trees. When I finally saw him, I was very
surprised that I had not seen him before. This is the first sleeping owl I
had ever seen. Wow!
After that the fog started to lift. We all separated into smaller groups.
Some groups walked the 1.3 mile trail in the park, and some drove around
and entered the south gate near the ''Advo'' bldg. This is by the
east-west running Powerline Trail which is just south of the NRA and is one
of the most productive bird-watching areas. Several of us entered the
south gate and set up scopes under the viewing tower there. We saw
Green-Wing Teals, Hooded and Common Mergansers, and Ruddy Ducks in addition
to other birds. About this time, the raptors started to fly. What a show.
The Cooper's was missing, as far as I know, but we observed Kestrels,
Eagles, a Peregrine, and Harriers. My list is incomplete at this point,
but Ruth Taylor wrote an report which is at the end of this one. Be sure
to read it. It's interesting.
At the end of the official field trip, a good-size group of us went over to
a marsh on the other side of the river (Frager Road). In the marsh we
observed several duck spp. including Canvas Backs, Ring-Necked Duck,
Green-Wing Teal, Lesser Scaup. I played a tape of Virginia Rail and Sora
sounds. We THINK we heard a Sora, but we certainly did not see one. (I'll
discuss this in another msg.) But the Virginia Rails went crazy responding
to the tape. It sounded like there were about 6-8 of them only about 15
feet away, but we never saw them! This was a very interesting experience
for most of the birders who were there.

Our participants were a good mixture of beginner to advanced. People
helped each other so I did not feel I had to be a ''Leader''. I was
especially happy to see young people there. There were Elizabeth age 12
from Pt. Angeles, Tyler age 14 from Mercer Is., and Michael age 16 from
Bothell/Shoreline. All three were very knowledgable. And all seemed to be
enjoying the field trip.

Before the trip, I had received a lot of imput from some expert birders
(they did the census, and sent informative notes about sightings). I also
had help from Audubon Club mentors, and from Matt Knox, the site manager of
GRNRA. I owe them my thanks for the info I passed out to the participants.
And I especially thank the Tweeters and friends who came out on Sunday.
They helped each other, and made the day very interesting and fun. I think
the result was a field trip (possibly the first ever specifically for
Tweeters and their friends) which was enjoyed by all.
Be sure to read Ruth's msg. below.
Yours, Carol Schulz
----------
The following msg. was written by Ruth Taylor on 1/24/98
Carol, thanks for organizing the field trip to the Kent Ponds today. Three
of us (two nice guys named Rusty and Wes) were so busy swapping stories in
one of the towers that we didn't make it to the meeting place to go to the
marsh. We did see a few interesting interactions that most of the folks
missed. All these were after 12:00.
There was an apparent territorial interaction between the juvenile BAEA
that
was perched near the ponds and an adult that flew in from the west. They
appeared to be the same sex. There was some aerial twisting and turning
but
no grappling - fun to watch.
A juvenile harrier (quite dark, no patagial tag) mildly harassed a perched
juvenile peregrine (the second of two juveniles with distinctly different
plumages) by circling around and around it, ascending until it was at about
the same height as the peregrine's perch in a tree. The peregrine sleeked
down but stayed put.
The funniest interaction was the same harrier and what we think was a river
otter. The harrier perched on a brushpile near where the otter was on the
ground. When it moved, the harrier started chasing it. It disappeared
from
our view into some vegetation, but the harrier kept making tight circles
right over where it disappeared. Eventually it galloped across the field
with the harrier chasing after it until it disppeared near the road. The
harrier then perched on another brushpile. It was a lot bigger than the
harrier - maybe the harrier, like me, doesn't know its mammals very well,
and thought it was chasing the mother of all voles!
We also saw meadowlarks and a mourning dove on Frager Road where it ends
near the bridge. [Ed. note- north of 212th at 204th and Frager where
they're building a new bridge over the Green River.]
Got a close, great look at the kestrel with the dangling feather; it was a
tail feather, presumably hers.
Good trip!

Ruth