Your "rant" borders on an issue that I have been holding back on for a
while because I am relatively new to birding and haven't wanted to
offend the "old-timers," though as far as age goes, I'm a real
old-timer. My issue is that Tweeters people often blithely refer to
places that are undoubtedly well-known in their communities by terms
such as "Boeing Ponds" or "The Fill," or the "WMS" but are unfindable by
those of us who don't already know where and what the thing is. I
sometimes wonder if there is a subconscious resistance to revealing
one's favorite birding site lest it be overrun. Mushroomers and
fisher-people are notorious for this sort of "security." At any rate,
it would be a great favor to the naive and inexperienced among us (i.e.,
me!) if people would mention the general location of the specific places
they report on.

As regards the Union Bay Natural Area, I visit it about once a week but
I have to admit that I don't think of it under that name, though I am
vaguely aware that that is what the "powers that be" have decided to
call it. When I first encountered the "UBNA," I thought of it as "the
area west of the Urban Horticulture Center." Then in my mind it became
"North Union Bay." The true name of that area is "Union Bay Marsh," but
Union Bay Marsh was destroyed by the atrocity of "The Montlake Fill"
when "the powers that were" decided that it was more important to have a
dump, athletic stadia and parking lots instead of an urban marsh. One
important reason to remember it as the Montlake Fill is as a reminder of
the atrocities we have carried out and continue to carry out against
wild animals and our natural selves.

I'm not sure just what is included in the UBNA, but when I bird North
Union Bay, I cover from east of the Urban Horticulture Center to the
Montlake Cut, which is just south of Husky Stadium.

This discussion probably seems pretty parochial for those living outside
the Seattle area, but if you come to Seattle, UBNA under any name is a
great place to to bird and to "mammal" too.

For anyone who would like to get a sense of what was covered by "The
Fill," the UW Press published a fine study by H. W. Higman back in the
early '50s. It's called Union Bay, The Life of a City Marsh."

And by the way, where ARE the "Boeing Ponds?" And are "Kent Ponds" and
the Green River Natural Area one and the same?

Thanks,

Dale

--
Dale Chase
(AKA ravenintherain)
Seattle, Washington
ccorax at blarg.net



Brett Wolfe wrote:
> Hiya tweets,
>
> This question is not meant to upset folks, but to try to understand
> why so many people insist on using outdated information.
>
> The Union Bay Natural Area (aka UBNA) has zero signs which mention
> that it used to be called the Montlake Fill. I know it is a nice short
> name, but it isn't right, not anymore. I find it amazing that if one
> was to ask anyone at the University of Washington, which is the entity
> that manages the UBNA, I doubt any of them would even know the term
> Montlake Fill, much less use it in everyday language. The folks at the
> Center for Urban Horticulture were, in their words, "appalled" that
> anyone still called it 'the Fill'.
>
> To take it a step further, for those that insist on calling the UBNA
> by the old name, why do you still say Dime Lot for the E-5 parking
> lot? Anyone who hasn't lived in Seattle for 20 years has no idea what
> the heck the "Dime lot" is unless it is explained that it is an old,
> dilapidated name for the E-5 lot.
>
> It actually bothered me that when I reported the Lapland Longspur
> there a few weeks back, I had at least 3 different people ask me where
> the UBNA was located. In every case, they were some old-time
> Seattleite who still called it the Fill. Everyone else knew what I was
> talking about, but it bothered me that so many people had never
> updated and upgraded to a name that was more appropos of what the
> place is now - a naturalized area that just happens to sit on top of
> an old landfill. Can't we celebrate it as a natural area instead of as
> an old dump?
>
> Alright, I'm going to end my rant, but this is soimething that has
> bothered me for a while. There might be a couple of folks who spend as
> much time at the Union Bay Natural Area as I do, but they are few and
> far between. I for one would just like to see my favorite place in
> Seattle accorded the respect that it has earned as the top birding
> place in Seattle. Is that too much to ask?
>
> Brett A. Wolfe
> Seattle, WA
> m_lincolnii at yahoo.com <mailto:m_lincolnii at yahoo.com>
>
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