The trail is in great condition with very little in the way of mud, and it wasn't too crowded this morning; a few joggers, several dog walkers, a random biker although mostly along the waterfront to the crew building. I'd planned this trip originally with the 9 a.m. opening time for the Horticulture restrooms in mind, but everyone waited until we finished.
We had an overcast, cool fall morning this morning; 9 of us from the Mountaineers Naturalist program enjoyed 43 bird species including a western meadowlark, green-winged teals, wood ducks, splashing coots, gadwalls, wigeons -- nice to see the waterfowl back. We also saw a pair of bald eagles, 3-4 great blue herons, a flock of cedar waxwings, and a number of warblers and sparrows still in the area.
We met at 7:30 and visited Yesler Swamp first, then continued to the kiosk and birded clockwise around the Fill. The bulletin board hadn't been updated in the past 2 weeks, but I'd seen that someone birding on 10/6 had 60 species in 3 hours, so I was pretty pleased when our group of mixed experience birders spotted or heard 43.
#HikeTheState
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