Hi Folks:
Roger Orness & I toured some of Kent Ponds, Boeing Ponds, and Thomas
Wetlands today, Thurs, 7-20-06. Mainly we had a GREEN HERON show, but we
had some other good birds. At Kent Ponds raptors were not to be seen except
for some Red-tailed Hawks. We went inside the Animal Shelter gate (w/
permission) and had a Green Heron and a Amer. Bittern fly by. The
Yellow-breasted Chat was silent when we were there about 10:30am. We saw
eclipse plumage Wood Ducks and one adult had some young half-grown Wood
Ducks which
quickly swam under the vegetation. These may be the first breeding Wood
Ducks documented at Kent Ponds. There were several adult Pied-billed
Grebes, and 5 stripe-faced juvenile grebes. Two adult Coots were on the
water, but we didn't see any young ones.

We then went over to Boeing Ponds where the only shorebird was a Spotted
Sandpiper. Two Green Herons flew.

>From there we went to the best place of all, a new wetland that borders the
south parking lot of a huge warehouse in "Toysmith Field". I think we may
like to call this "Thomas Wetlands". It is located near the former location
of Thomas Pond, a little mudhole that yielded shorebirds a few years ago
near I-167 south of Kent. The big field w/ the warehouse is just south of S
277th St and east of I-167. Toysmith is a large bldg right next to 277th.
Drive south on the access road past Toysmith to the south parking lot of a
huge warehouse. Bordering the south parking lot is a wetland of grasses,
then a rocky pond area, and then a nice muddy pond at the far east end of
the parking lot (by the Interurban Trail). You can drive into the parking
lot and all the way back to the east end. Park on the right. Roger and I
watched at least 4 very-tame GREEN HERONS there at about noon, both adults
and juveniles. They apparently are catching dragonflies. The herons flew
around, perching on snags and next to the pond, and walked briskly as they
chased after dragonflies. They stretched out their necks to capture their
prey. These birds were very close to us, and didn't
seem to mind people watching. Also at the pond were some Mallards, a Least
Sandpiper, a Spotted Sandpiper, and a few Killdeer. Kathy Andrich and I saw
about 6 Least Sandpipers in this location on Monday night. The Green Herons
were active at that time too. This new pond still has water, and might
offer
some good shorebird action this summer.
There is a restored area to the south of this wetland, and there are more
ponds in there. You can drive down to those ponds. North of the warehouse
there is tall grass and swallows swoop by. In a ditch which
is in the far SW corner of Toysmith field where the road takes a right
angle, Kathy spotted a Green Heron on Monday night. The ditch is right next
to I-167.

DIRECTIONS: "Thomas Wetlands".
Take I-167 to the area south of Kent, WA in the Green River Valley. Turn
east onto S 277th St. Take an immediate right onto the access road next to
Toysmith Building. Travel south on the access road about 3 blocks. I-167
will be on the right. Watch for a nice dark-morph Redtailed Hawk in this
area. A huge warehouse is on the left. Go just past the warehouse, and
turn into the south parking lot. Travel in the parking lot toward the east
where the first of several ponds will be to the right. The muddy shorebird
pond is the farthest to the east. It's right next to the Interurban Trail.

Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines, WA
linusq at att.net