Hi tweets,

I have pretty much stopped going to the Union Bay Natural Area (aka the Montlake Fill) now because of the number of people. Just 3 years ago, before everyone starting posting about the Fill 3-5 times per day, the Fill was a great place to go. The past couple of years though has just gotten ridiculous. Soo many birders now added to the joggers and dog-walkers, who also seem to have proliferated. You often can't see any birds because of so many people. Whereas I could easily get 60+ species in a single day there in 2007, I struggle to reach 50 at any time of year now. I think the number of people has scared some of the birds off.

I used to be known as one of the "go-to" people for information about the Montlake Fill and the birds that could be seen there, but it just isn't that much fun to go someplace that used to provide solitude that only produces ravening hoardes of people now. Sad really...

So I am disappointed in any additional crap that occurs at the Union Bay Natural Area, but we brought it on ourselves. I'd like to blame it on someone else, but as someone who has posted about rare birds at the Fill in the past, I have to take some of the blame myself. Still, thanks tweets for loving what used to be my favorite spot in Seattle to death. As someone who once went to the Fill over 100 times in a year, I will be surprised if I go there 6 times this year. I'll save my birding energies for places I can go and see more birds than people.

Brett A. Wolfe
m_lincolnii at yahoo.com
Seattle, WA

--- On Sun, 5/16/10, Marc Hoffman <tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com> wrote:

From: Marc Hoffman <tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fill this and that
To: "Connie Sidles" <constancesidles at gmail.com>, "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, May 16, 2010, 11:45 AM



Connie (& Tweets),


I well imagine there'll be some controversy around the two points you
raise. Here are my reactions.


I walked the new bark trails through Yesler Swamp quite recently. I'll be
surprised if they get much usage other than by birders or young people
looking to toss back a few six-packs out of the public eye. The trails
themselves are narrow and seem of minimal impact (especially compared to
earlier plans to construct a boardwalk through the same area), and the
surrounding vegetation is dense enough that I don't anticipate a lot of
people wandering off the trails. So all in all it doesn't bother me at
all to have an extra hundred yards or so (rough estimate) of
access.


On the other hand, if there has now been a decision to aggressively end
access to all but the main gravel trails at the Fill, I find that to be
problematic. I periodically travel from Kirkland to do some bird
photography at the Fill. Today I found I was restricted from all the
better areas for photography. Whereas I'd usually return with a couple of
dozen "keeper" shots, today I came away with just one mediocre
photo. I am not saying that recreation should prevail over the welfare of
the wildlife, but this is such a major new restriction that it will
result in my dropping the Fill from my list of usual haunts. Especially
as grasses get higher during late spring and summer, it is impossible to
view many areas of interest with either camera or binoculars from the
gravel trail.


I think UW should consider that drastically limiting birders access to
the Fill will result in fewer nature lovers maintaining a connection to
that area, which will translate to less public advocacy for the thing
they are trying to preserve. It's debatable how to strike a balance
between the needs of people and those of nature, but to be practical some
balance must be maintained. A solution might be to convert some of the
more established social trails to gravel and designate them as within
limits.


Marc Hoffman

Kirkland, WA

tweeters "at" dartfrogmedia "dot" com


At 11:20 AM 5/15/2010, Connie Sidles wrote:

Friends of Yesler Swamp, in
conjunction with the CUH, have laid a twisty chip path through Yesler
Swamp (aka Surber Grove). It starts on the northwest side of Surber,
where the parking lot is for the greenhouses, winds into the heart of the
grove, then curves around to the west, parallels the fence line from a
distance of about 15 feet, and exits at Yesler Cove, north and well away
from the beaver lodge. I'd appreciate your reaction to this
trail.


The second development is the posting of signage forbidding people from
walking off the gravel trail on the main part of the Fill. The signs are
posted so that they effectively close access to Main Pond except for one
place at the southeast end. it also closes the social trail between Main
Pond and Shoveler's Pond. So no longer are you supposed to walk along the
east side of Main Pond or the north end of that pond. Neither are you
supposed to get any closer to Shoveler's Pond than the gravel trail
itself. Finally, you're forbidden to walk across Hunn Meadow West from
Southwest Pond to Main Pond. These social trails have been in existence
for 25 years or more.


IMHO, this is a good thing despite the fact that it reduces birding
opportunities in some of the hottest spots of the Fill. For one thing,
the signage should put an end (I hope) to the creation of ever-increasing
additional social trails. For another, they make it clear that the Fill's
main fields and ponds are there for the sake of the habitat and the
wildlife. I like this openly signed commitment to preserving a little
piece of the wild in the heart of a city. People are welcome to enter the
wild as long as we don't love the place to death. It's a good balance of
mixed use.


Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. - Connie,
Seattle

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