This morning, between rain showers, I did my regular Emerald Downs by bus trip. I like to start at the Auburn Transit Center, but there are numerous variations of this walk. I came to Auburn on the #180 route, but there are many buses that use this station.
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Some?great?routes on weekdays, using the Auburn Transit Center,?are the #s 564 and 565. I could have used these?coming from my native Renton.?These are Sound Transit buses that connect far flung places and have the added benefit of being express runs with limited stops. If only they ran on weekends!!! 564 connects Overlake, Bellevue, Renton, Kent and Auburn with Pierce County stops Sumner and Puyallap's East Hill. The 565 is similiar but goes to Federal Way instead of Pierce County. These two routes cover a lot of birding ground!?
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Back to my adventure, from the Auburn Station I walked west on Main Street until I intersected the Interurban Trail. On this trail I proceeded north. There is a lot of good birding ground with several well known marshes. I heard a Yellow Warbler calling just before I walked under Hwy 18. From this point it is only a shortways to Emerald Downs continuing north. This is such a good birding spot, in the past featuring rarities such as the Black Phoebe of a few years ago. Today I had some luck with warblers. I found 4 juvenile Common Yellowthroats. There was also a Orange-crowned Warbler. Because of the rain there was some water in the sometimes flooded fields. There was a large flock of Canada Geese, but I could find no shorebirds except for the usual Killdeers. I did find one juvenile Red-winged Blackbird. An Accipiter made an appearance. There was a lot of American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing activity, the two species seemed to be in mixed flocks.
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As the weather was threatening I made my escape?walking east on 37th Street and going to to Auburn Way North where I caught a northbound #180 bus.
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When I have time I actually like walking all the way to Kent from Auburn or visa versa. I enjoy ending these walks with an iced white chocolate mocha!!! I have to admit to liking long distance walks, but there are any number of ways to shorten the Interurban/bus walk. One good one from Auburn is just to go as far as Emerald Downs and then just go back where you started.
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Mark Vernon
Renton, WA
mailto ma_vern at yahoo.com
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