It is beginning to look a lot like summer – with snow – as the poplar trees send out their seed packets of white fluff, and the summer resident birds get down to the business of raising a family at Juanita Bay Park. Young birds and animals are leaving the nest/den, providing opportunities for wildlife watching as they discover their larger world and learn to survive (or not) on their own.
In about an hour at the second observation deck of the west boardwalk there was plenty of action. A cheeky young redwing, as big as his or her parent, begged to be fed on the railing. Father was not looking sympathetic – the youngster was as big as he, and much better fed. An older young male redwing trying to stay near the familiar hometowns environs was persistently chased away by adults, already starting their second families. A great blue heron got too close to a redwing’s nest, and was dive bombed. The redwing landed on his back, hitching a ride to the opposite shore before flying up, doing a u-turn and returning to his own territory. An eagle glided in, harassed by a tag team of crows and blackbirds. Young swallows perched on a dead stub. The osprey alternated soaring on the thermals and perching on the osprey platform.
There were many young ducklings, mostly mallards. A mother with four downy young sat at one end of a fallen log, grooming and resting. A Virginia rail, probably with his family in the vicinity, came out onto the other end of the log and holding his wings up, out to show how big and intimidating he could be. (Those who have tried to see the rails in our park know that one out in the open is a rarity. This cycle of the breeding season is usually your best chance). The mallard ignored him, so he moved closer. When she began to give him that “mother’s look” (Watch your step junior. That is enough), he suddenly folded his wings, groomed, and pretended to ignore her, retreating strategically but with dignity. This dance repeated several times. Then the ducks got very antsy, taking off and resettling. Shortly thereafter, we spotted the mink. Eventually things settled down again.
Staying put and quiet tends to bring the best encounters with wildlife, especially this time of year.
Volunteers in the Park
A second group of Native Plant Stewards graduates from their WNPS training mid-June, and are assigned another patch of blackberries in the wetland buffer. I was asked to join Nona Ganz, Juanita Bay park steward, and Sharon Rodman, city coordinator of Green Kirkland Partnership, to meet the class at its sixth site visit of the day. We – or the park itself – must have done a good sales job. When the new stewards bid on which of six sites they wanted to work on, we got six out of a class of about 30 allocated among five sponsoring municipalities plus King County. They are now working on their project plan, and will be announcing their work parties at a later date.
Nona’s group of stewards water and do maintenance by the parking lot and 120th Avenue every Thursday. Last year’s Native Plant Stewards hold a maintenance work party every fourth Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. New volunteers are always welcome.
The Juanita Bay Rangers are still working out a more permanent structure and a new affiliation since being dropped by the city as part of last year’s budget cuts. The many spring school tours continue, as do first Sunday walks. We will also be working with various summer programs, as in the past, continuing to share this special place with park visitors.
Green Calendar
• Sustainable Futures Book Club: Meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 16 at the Redmond Regional Library to discuss Capra’s “Web of Life” and Laszlo’s “WorldShift 2012: Making Green Business, New Politics.” Read one of the two, or any book by either author to join the discussion.
• Sustainable Kirkland: Meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 10. Visit www.sustainablekirkland.org for information and meeting place.
• Green Kirkland Partnership Restoration Event: Runs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 12 at Kirkland Watershed Park, 4530 112th Avenue N.E. Contact Sharon Rodman, 425-587-3305 or greenkirkland@co.kirkland.wa.us to volunteer.
• Raptor Romp: This free class runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 12. Pre-register at www.seelc.org/.
• Juanita Bay Bird Walk: Runs from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, June 22 at Juanita Bay Park. Meet at kiosk by parking lot.
