We were asked to help with the forestry section of the "Natural
Resource Week" for the 4th and 5th grade students of Bellevue Elementary
Schools, held at Mercer Slough Nature Park this past week. The park is
situated along Mercer Slough, just southeast of downtown Bellevue, west of
I-405 and north of I-90.
This area once was covered by Lake Washington, but became a marshy
wetland when the lake was lowered in 1916 during the construction of the
Hiram Chittenden Locks, which allowed boat access from Puget Sound. A
portion of the area was farmed commercially for blueberries in the 1950s
and 1960s, and the farm and adjoining wetlands were subsequently acquired
by Bellevue for a park (sorry, don't know the date.) Bellevue Parks
Department has made it into a most interesting Nature Park, originally
named Bellefields Park, but recently renamed Mercer Slough Nature Park.
There are still a few old reader displays along the trails referring to
the old name. Well-maintained trails, with bark or gravel surfaces,
supplemented with boardwalks and bridges in the wet areas, circle around
the slough and blueberry farm and provide interesting habitat for birds.
On the eastern edge of the park, large Western Redcedar and Big-leaf Maple
trees predominate. Alders, mostly senile and becoming dead snags, provide
woodpeckers with nesting opportunities and rapping sounding boards, as
well as perches for the songbirds. We took advantage of this area to
record all the birds we saw and heard during our two-day visit to this
exceptional urban park.
Although the weather was cool and cloudy, the birds were singing
everywhere and staking out their territory. The most exciting highlight of
our birding experience was to hear a WESTERN TANAGER singing right over
our forestry station beside the huge Western Redcedar and Bigleaf Maple,
accompanied by an AMERICAN ROBIN and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK nearby. What a
wonderful thrill to be able to hear all three of these colorful birds
singing their beautiful songs and be able to compare them.
As Bill returned to the blueberry farm headquarters to retrieve more of
our forestry display materials, A GREAT BLUE HERON stood on the slough
bridge railing, then flew off toward the heron rookery at the northern end
of the slough area. Another time, as all of us (students and presenters)
walked the trails after lunch at the blueberry farm, a GREEN HERON, his
neck folded back in heron fashion, flew up from the slough and did a
banking maneuver as he flew off to the north. YELLOW WARBLERS found the
willow vegetation near the slough a perfect habitat, as their songs rang
out loud and clear to announce their presence. A COMMON YELLOWTHROAT
popped up in the cattails by the slough bridge, but was silent. Both
WILSON'S WARBLERS and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were heard, but never seen.
The WARBLING VIREO was really in full voice. HOUSE SPARROWS, STARLINGS,
and HOUSE FINCHES stayed near the blueberry farm buildings, along with
BARN SWALLOWS, who may decide to nest near the restrooms. NORTHERN
FLICKERS sounded off near the snags and big trees. One of the flickers
investigated a large round hole in a big old Western Redcedar snag near
our forestry station, but did not return. A ROBIN's nest was discovered in
the lower branches of one of the large live cedars. We finally located the
DOWNY WOODPECKER, rapping on one of the tall alder snags, the sound
carrying for great distances. BEWICK'S WRENS and SONG SPARROWS were
everywhere--always interesting to compare their songs. A small flock of
CEDAR WAXWINGS perused the vegetation along the slough bridge, making like
flycatchers. SPOTTED TOWHEES trilled from deep in the thick marsh
vegetation near the trails--not always easy to locate them. BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEES were seen on a small branch of an alder snag; probably had a
nest in the snag. a HUMMINGBIRD sat atop a dead branch near the slough,
but zoomed away before we could identify him; probably a Rufous, but
Anna's are also known to be in the Bellevue area. STELLER'S JAYS sounded
off across the park, scolding at something or everything. You can't miss
them when they want to be seen or heard. And of course, we heard a few
AMERICAN CROWS, but they were not common. We finally heard the first song
of the SWAINSON'S THRUSH while doing our forestry thing at the park. He is
not singing yet on our tree farm, just warming up, "whitting" and
"grr-ing". One of our daughters, when she was young, named him the
"Strawberry Bird", as she heard his song only when the strawberries were
ripe. Only one pair of MALLARD DUCKS was noted each time we crossed the
slough
We certainly enjoyed the birding opportunity in this park as we were
explaining the forestry side of the environment to the school children. We
are certain our observations are just a small sample of the birds that may
be seen or heard in this unique nature park

Erin

Bill and Erin Woods Woods Tree Farm Redmond, WA U.S.A.
<wwwbike at halcyon.com>