Hi Tweets:
A while back on Oct 21 I wrote about seeing ducks, water birds, and gulls at
the mouth of the Cedar River in Renton. Here is an update on winter hours
at the gate there and some improved directions.
The Cedar River runs into the south end of Lake Washington between Renton
Airfield and Coulon Park. There is a park and nice trail, with a road that
goes all the way out to the lake front. Do some viewing along the river
near the restroom. At the end there is a boathouse. This is Cascade Canoe
& Kayak. They offer rentals and lessons (for REI). The gate is often
locked during the winter. It is better viewing if you can walk through the
gate, and access the wonderful deck all around the Kayak Center. But you
can do some limited viewing from a little knoll, or from on top of a picnic
table there. The info about the winter hours and improved directions are
below.
At the mouth of the river you can look east across a bay which is in front
of the big Boeing Renton Plant. You are looking toward Coulon Park. There
have been many kinds of ducks, including Canvasback, and Lesser Scaup in
here. And lots of Western Grebes, and other water birds. Big dead salmon
are everywhere in the water.
To look at this area from Coulon Park, enter the park and bear left. Stay
on the left side, and park near the kids' playground. Walk out a nice path
here onto Duck Island and you can view the bay and Coulon Park. Directions
to Coulon are below.
On Sunday Dec 2 a friend and I went out on the Kayak Center dock for a short
time in the afternoon. There were a couple of jet skiers playing in the bay
in front of Boeing, but all the birds were still there. They had just moved
over to west of the river in the lake. We saw Western Grebe and other
grebes, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Common & Hooded Merganser, and both kinds
of Goldeneye. Gulls were great. Really... ;-) There were many Thayers
Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and hybrid gulls, 2 Herring Gulls, several
Ring-billed Gulls, and 2 pure Western Gulls. We didn't stay long, but I
could see many gulls over at Coulon Park, sitting on the log boom. The
birds are all there because the salmon are, I think.
Here are the winter hours of the Kayak Center and some improved directions
to help you avoid Renton traffic.
----------------------------
Cascade Canoe & Kayak (mouth of Cedar River)
425-637-8838 (a Bellevue phone number)
Hours gate open: Sat & Sun 11am - 5pm (weather permitting)
Tue & Th 2pm - 5pm
----------------------------
Directions to Coulon and to Cedar River:
Coulon Park: Take I-405 to exit 5. Drop down the hill on Park Ave to the
light at the bottom of the hill. Turn right on Lk WA Blvd, go approx 1
block, and turn left into Coulon Park. Stay left to view the island and
bay. Go right (north) if you want to see other areas of the park, including
the logboom w/ the gulls. (Also Kidd Valley Burger, and Ivars on the water
right below Kidd Valley.)
Cedar River: Go back out to Park Ave. Turn right (south) on Park Ave and
continue about 1/3 mile to 6th St. Turn right on 6th and continue to Cedar
River. Turn right at the river and go out alongside it to the lake and
Kayak Center.