Snoqualmie Valley Field Trip (11/10/05) Highlights

We started at the Pepper Farm ponds on West Snoqualmie River Drive where we saw many duck species - Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebe and most numerous were the American Wigeon and American Coot. Then we headed east on N.E. 100th Street where there were White and Golden-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. 

We saw one interesting, but unidentifiable, bird. It had a black front face and back of head, white side face, white breast with tan wash on sides, dark wings with some white spots and a yellowish stripe at shoulder of wing, and brownish upper back. The bill was more pointed than a finch or sparrow and its size was about that of a Downy Woodpecker.

At the end of N.E. 100th Street there is a pond which had three Swans, one adult Trumpeter, one adult Tundra and one juvenile Tundra with a pink bill. There were Double-crested Cormorants and other ducks at Sikes Lake. We also had one of the seven Red-tailed Hawks we saw during the day. The grass field at Nestle's (formerly Carnation) Farms had hundreds of Canada Geese. Scoping the geese resulted in finding about six Greater White-fronted Geese.

We had lunch at MacDonald's Park near Carnation where Warren found a cold Cardinal Meadowhawk (dragonfly) that perched on his thumb for a long time. We walked across the hanging bridge and did the loop trail, even though it started to rain during this walk. We found a Winter Wren investigating the wood pile, several Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting about a decidous tree. We heard, but couldn't see, a Fox Sparrow and saw a Song Sparrow.

At the Carnation Golf Course there were two adult Bald Eagle. We later saw an immature Bald Eagle. We mostly birded from the car the rest of the way due to the rain. We detoured through Marymoor Park on the way back and saw Ring-billed Gulls and a California Gull. There were 3 birders and 38 species sighted.