Here is an interesting Bus and Birds place, the Kent Ponds area. I arrived on the #150 bus and got off on West Valley Hwy close to the Boeing Ponds. I had coffee nearby before walking west to the Boeing Ponds. Here I found a Lesser Yellowlegs. I also found two broods of Pied-billed Grebes and a Green Heron. From the Boeing Ponds I kept walking west until I connected with the Green River Trail.
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On the Green River Trail I walked south to the Kent Ponds and walked the loop in the interior of the place. A Osprey was flushing up ducks. I didn't find any Common Yellowthroats. I found a very interesting dead rodent, a vole I believe because of the small ears. It had a brown back. From here I reconnected with the Green River Trail at Van Doren's Landing Park.
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>From Van Doren's Park I kept going south until I came to the footbridge crossing the Green River, which I crossed. From here it is just a hop and a skip to the Riverview Marsh. I counted a large flock of swallows perched on electrical wires, 124 Violet-green Swallows with some Barn and Cliff Swallows mixed in. I didn't find any Red-winged Blackbirds at the Riverview Marsh.
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Next I recrossed back over the Green River and walked east on the paved trail that goes along the south border of the Kent Ponds. I climbed the south tower and then continued east until I returned to West Valley Hwy. The #150 bus comes every 15 minutes so it is very handy. In this last stretch I heard the cry of a Western Scrub Jay.
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This trip probably has more walking than some would like but it seems just about right to me.
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Mark Vernon
Renton, WA
mailto ma_vern at yahoo.com