The bridge over Union Slough to Spencer Island is taped off right now. Not sure why, but there is no foot access to those trails for the time being.

This was a nice morning walk with only 15 minutes of travel time to get there. To get there, you need to take the Marine View Dr exit in Everett, then take the left to #529 to Marysville (it used to be a right and may show that on old directions). Or put in Everett Animal Shelter in your GPS, you go right past it to the park.  We parked by the Langus Park boathouse with an easy walk to the restrooms. The entire trail is paved until you get to the Spencer bridge. Past the bridge the once nice trail is overgrown with blackberry bushes, and the graveled path is eroding. Sad. The old loo is also gone, no great loss there. We turned around and walked up to the path leading past the sewage lagoons (not as bad as it sounds) to the end of the paved trail with some nice interpretive signs. Go to the right where the path Ts. Not much in the way of bird life today, but we did see the seal sleeping on a log by the boat launch. The water in the estuary was very low, the tide must have been out. The trails near the treatment plant have been improved over the years, but the trails around the island have been sadly neglected. We did 6.5 miles for #hikeathon. 

Instead of parking at the lot right before and under the I-5 bridge, we went further and parked at the designated lot for Spencer Island after Gate 4 of the Everett Waste Water Facility around 8:15 AM as we wanted to visit the trails in Spencer Island.  There were a lot of water fowls and swallows on or flew over the pond in the facility, especially by Gate 7.  After going over the bridge to Spencer Island, we turned right and went south  as suggested by the WTA trail summary.  The trail became narrows after the 1st wooden bridge and were overgrown with spiky blackberries and others.  We continued and reached the 2nd wooden bridge which gave very nice views.  The overgrown on the trail further south almost made the trail indistinguishable after the 2nd bridge, hence, we decided not to go further to complete the Spencer Island trail loop.  After returning back to Smith Island from Spencer Island, we went south and finish the well-paved Langus Riverfront trail, which is part of the WTA (Spencer Island) route suggested.  We met many locals who walk the dogs along the trail.  The Riverfront  trail was wide, quiet and scenic but do not have many tree shade.

All in all, the Spencer Island trail is not well maintained but the Langus Riverfront trail is nice and easy.  We saw 35 different bird species, most during early morning.

We had a great time at Spencer Island with a couple friends!  There were SO many different types of birds and the weather was stunning!  I usually walk the little loop out there, but it has been a bit since I'd been there and wow the weeds/bushes have grown up SO much!  We took the loop clockwise and did a lot of pushing through/by/under thorns and nettles.  About halfway around, the girls had had their fun. We returned to the nice bench near the bridge where you can view the boat ruins on Steamboat Slough.  Had a blast hanging out on such a beautiful day! 

I arrived at 5:45 this morning to scout the area and had 19 species in 40 minutes. As a group we had an enjoyable 47 species in just over 4 hours. Our Mountaineers Naturalist group of 8 had a mixture of birding experience from novice to 10+ years. It pays to have lots of ears and eyes!

Highlights included a single blue-winged teal, a pair of cinnamon teal (between the two STP containers) with young,  Canada geese with 7 goslings, mallards and gadwall with ducklings, over a dozen eagles and herons, good looks at common yellowthroats, golden-crowned sparrow on the trail, yellow warblers, marsh wren nests (at least 5), and several killdeer close to the path as the tide went out. We also saw one lone coot escape predation from a bald eagle, and we heard a hairy and a downy woodpecker. Merlin picked up a Nashville warbler and a few other birds in our vicinity that we looked for but were not able to get eyes on.

I opted NOT to carry my big lens due to the spitting rain while I was scouting - a mistake - so my bird shots leave a lot to be desired. It will never happen again.

The rain held off, and my 4 out of 5 stars reflects a ding for the mosquitoes, nettles, overgrowth, and stink from the STP. But otherwise, this was a very enjoyable trip with wonderful company and felt like a treasure hunt for adults.

Route details:

The last time I birded on Spencer Island was probably a dozen years ago. The most recent trip report on WTA was from February, although Ebirders had posted lists for May as recent as two days ago. The STP (Sewage treatment plant) was exceptionally fragrant; I amended our trip plan to meet west of the freeway for our intros then drive to the gravel pulloff so we could high-tail past the stink. We spent as little time as possible at the STP, which might have had more than mallards and gulls, but nobody wanted to smell the stench any more than we had to.

The south path is overgrown with grasses and nettles (and very buggy - beware the mosquitoes) past the last bridge, about where it starts heading east, but we got great views of swallows buzzing below us so it's worth the walk. Just don't go past the bridge expecting to get to Union Slough.

Wild strawberries are just turning pink, and rose hips are abundant. We even saw some poppies. And what's the story about the shipwrecked barge and bird blinds that have been flooded? I didn't remember that being the case my last visit.

We backtracked and crossed east to Union Slough but decided not to turn south and backtracked from there, then explored to the north as far as a water crossing we couldn't get over. All in all 5.5 miles and only a handful of people, one man with two dogs on the opposite side (walking path), one birder, and two gents coming in as we were leaving around 11:30.