December 4 - Fort Steilacoom Park

I met with the group of birders, led by volunteer Russ Smith, for the 8 a.m. walk at Fort Steilacoom Park.

Fort Steilacoom Park birders

Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Washington is the largest park in the city. The 342-acre park includes Waughop Lake, an off-leash dog park, and several soccer fields and baseball fields, and offers a diversity of habitats ranging from open meadows, brushy areas, hillsides, deciduous groves, coniferous woodland, and the lake.

Waughop Lake

I met with the group of birders, led by volunteer Russ Smith, for the 8 a.m. walk at Fort Steilacoom Park.  Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Washington is the largest park in the city. The park includes Waughop Lake, an off-leash dog park, and several soccer fields and baseball fields.  The 342 acre park offers a diversity of habitat ranging from open meadows, brushy areas, hillsides, deciduous groves, coniferous woodland, and Waughop Lake. There are numerous foot trails throughout the park making excellent access for birding that has included 146 species identified within the park. Every season in the park has its birding rewards.  The Audubon web site provides the following information:

Russ Smith and/or other co-leaders are there rain or shine (unless torrential). Contact Russ at wrsmith@msn.com if you need further info. Reservations are not needed.  Birders of all ages and skill levels are welcome. Bring binoculars and a field guide if you have them. Wear footwear and clothing appropriate for the weather.

Meeting times: 8 AM, Tuesdays, 1st Tuesday each month.

Duration: dependent on desires of birders present but will include a loop around the lake as well as some of the surrounding meadows and woodlands at a leisurely pace, estimated to be 2-3 miles and several hours. Month to month may experience different routes through the park dependent on best estimates of optimizing seasonal variances in bird species and their preferred habitat. Birders may leave at any time.

Meeting location: paved parking lot between old red barns and Waughop Lake, west end of lot nearest lake. Enter Ft Steilacoom Park off Steilacoom Blvd, turn south at the traffic light at the northeast corner of the park at the intersection with 87th Ave SW, then turn right into the park and immediately left around the south side of the play fields, proceed to end of Dresden Lane (aka Waughop Lake Rd) to paved parking lot past barns.

I’ll diverge here for a short history lesson.  The historic Fort Steilacoom occupied an important position in the history of early America and the Pacific Northwest and played a significant role in the settling of Washington Territory. Beginning with its construction in 1849 and ending with its closure in 1868, Fort Steilacoom “served as a beacon of American power and promise, promoting the migration of settlers to Washington & securing American interest in the region.  Located in the south Puget Sound, Fort Steilacoom was a part of an early network of settlements including Forts, Camps and Military Posts which were owned by either the United States or the Hudson's Bay Company.”

It is interesting that the Historic Fort Steilacoom web site posts an article by John McPherson glorifying the contribution of the 9^th Infantry Regiment at the fort.  Under direction of Captain Hamilton J. G. Maxon, 58 Territorial Volunteers arrived at the vicinity of where the Mashel River enters the Nisqually.  Their orders were to shoot any Native American they found. The men came across a large group of Native Americans taking refuge in the dense forest.  McPherson proudly reports that a “… successful raid on the insurgent camp near the Mashel River by Indians under the leadership of Patkanim effectively crushed the Native American resistance in the area.”

In reality, on March 31, 1856, Maxon and the “Washington Mounted Rifles” found a camp of old men, women, and children.  The Mashel Massacre is one of those little bits of Northwest History that they don’t teach in school . . . it is pretty gruesome.

But – I’m just here for the birding.  It was clear and just at the freezing level, and a bit of ice skimmed the edges of the lake.  We started at Waughop Lake and scanned for water birds.  We heard a pair of birds calling that sounded “kind of” like the not-uncommon Red-breasted Nuthatches, but the call was “off”, and we tried to talk ourselves into thinking they may have been White-breasted Nuthatches, which used to be common in the white oak prairies of the Puget Trough, but are now pretty rare here.  We will send a copy of the recording to some ‘more expert’ birders than we are to see what they think . . .  Update: eBird reviewer Will Brooks replied "I listened to your recording and it sounds like just an alternate Red-breasted Nuthatch call. White-breasted has a more emphatic, burry call."

Then we headed up the hill into the sunshine to search for sparrows and such.  We saw a couple of coyotes hunting for their breakfast, as well as the usual and expected species.

California Scrub Jay - Aphelocoma californica

Spotted Towhee in Snowberry

Back down at the lake, we were surprised by a trio of Trumpeter Swans flying over, and they eventually landed on the water, affording us with great views

Trumpeter Swan trio

All told, we saw 44 species of birds and enjoyed a rare sunny December day in the south Puget Sound.

On my way home, I stopped at the end of Mounts Road, on the east side of the Nisqually River delta, to see what birds I might find.  It was high tide, so the marsh was full of water

The high water pushed the Song Sparrows and Marsh Wrens up against the road, and they joined with the other flocks of sparrows, towhees and chickadees

Song Sparrow

Marsh Wren

Black-capped Chickadee with prey

Spotted Towhee female

Golden-crowned Sparrow about to feed on a winter-soft apple

A few hundred dabbling ducks were flushed by a Northern Harrier and some passing Bald Eagles.  It’s always a good day when you see an Eagle!

Fort Steilacoom Park eBird Checklist

Mounts Road eBird Checklist