Bald Eagle / Stephanie Orlando / Audubon Photography Awards
Due to popular demand, we limit registrations to TWO TRIPS PER MONTH for any individual. Please do not sign up for more than two trips.
Priority registration for Seattle Audubon members will open at 10:00am on August 2, and non-Seattle Audubon members may begin registering on August 8.
Not a current Seattle Audubon member? Join us! To check your membership status, please email Membership Services Associate, Anna Dukes.
To register:
- Please read the COVID protocols first.
- Click on “August 2021 Field Trips” to see trip descriptions and registration link.
- If needed, you can also call The Nature Shop at 206-523-4483 to register. Please leave a detailed voicemail with your name and contact info, when you are calling, and the trip(s) you want to sign up for if no one answers the phone.
Reminders:
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- Members may sign up for themselves and one guest for no more than two trips per month.
- We expect people to show up for the trips they are registered. If you need to cancel, please get in touch so that we may fill your spot with someone from the wait list.
COVID-19 Protocol
Effective July 1, the following modifications for Seattle Audubon activities went into effect:
- Seattle Audubon will no longer require fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks or physically distance when participating in most outdoor activities.
- Carpools may also resume at participants’ discretion, for fully vaccinated individuals only.
- Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals will be required to continue masking and are prohibited from carpooling at this time.
- Vaccination status for outdoor activities will be determined through a self-reported honor system; Seattle Audubon will not be tracking vaccination status beyond staff and a small circle of volunteers.
We recognize that a significant number of our community members—specifically families with children under 12 and others who are high-risk or medically exempt from vaccination—remain vulnerable. Others are simply not ready to shed their masks, for a variety of personal reasons and justifiable concerns, even if they are fully vaccinated.
Seattle Audubon encourages vaccinated individuals who wish to continue masking to do so. We urge everyone in our community to remain compassionate towards one another during these exceptional times. No one should be judged on the basis of their preferred masking behavior or whether they choose to participate in a carpool, as long as it aligns with Seattle Audubon’s guidelines.
July 2021 Field Trips
Registration opens at 10:00am on Thursday, July 1
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Discovery Park, Seattle This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leaders: Kathy and Arn Slettebak (day of trip only: 206-693-0260)
Meet: 7:00am, South Parking Lot
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), B/C (soft ground, sand, dirt trail, one hill), ~ 2-3 miles walking
Limit: 6
We’ll take a leisurely 2-to-3-mile walk, with some elevation gain and loss, on the Loop Trail and other parts of the park. We will explore forest and meadows looking for resident and migrant birds. Dress for weather; bring binoculars, water & snacks. Over by 10:00 AM.
Sunday, July 11, 2021
Montlake Fill / Union Bay Natural Area This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leader: Jane Lester (day of trip only: 206-850-0923)
Meet: 9:00am at the Center for Urban Horticulture, large parking lot to the east
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), B (dirt trails, boardwalk, pavement), ~ 2-3 miles walking
Limit: 9
Wander the peaceful Montlake Fill and see the birds (and other critters) that love the forest, lake, marsh, swamp, and meadows.
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Discovery Park, Seattle This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leader: Neil Zimmerman (day of trip only: 206-200-6700)
Meet: 7:00am, South Parking Lot
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), C (hiking trails with gentle rolling hills), ~ 2-3 miles walking
Limit: 9
We’ll take a leisurely 2-3-mile walk, with some elevation gain and loss, on the Loop Trail and other parts of the park. We will explore forest, field and wetland habitats looking for resident and migrant birds. Dress for weather; bring binoculars, water & snacks.
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Richmond Beach Park, Shoreline This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leader: Joe Sweeney
Meet: 8:00am Parking lot at the bottom of the entrance road, near the Restrooms
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), C (hiking trails with gentle rolling hills), 2-3 miles walking
Limit: 6
Expect to walk 2-3 leisurely paced miles, including some hills and steps. We will first walk the main paths and steps in this very scenic park. Then, we’ll return to our cars, grab our spotting scopes, and walk the short distance to the beach for some seabird watching overlooking the Puget Sound. The weather is usually cooler on the beach, so wear layers and rain gear, if necessary. Bring binoculars (or borrow at no cost from the Seattle Audubon Nature Shop), of course, and a scope, if you have one. Note: Due to covid, we will not share our scopes with other participants. However, a pair of binoculars is all you need to enjoy the walk.
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Westcrest Park in Highland Park, Seattle This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leader: Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser
Meet: 7:30 AM, Playground Parking Lot, on 8th Ave SW between SW Trenton St. and SW Cloverdale St. Bus #131 stops at 9th Ave SW and SW Trenton St, then it’s less than 10 minutes to walk to the parking lot
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), C (hiking trails with gentle rolling hills plus a few sets of stairs), approx. 1.5 miles walking
Limit: 5
Westcrest Park is the southern end of the West Duwamish Greenbelt and includes trails winding through mixed forest, a community garden, and open greenspace over the covered water reservoir. Anyone interested in birds is welcome and the trip leader will have extra pairs of binoculars for folks who need them. Our route will first meander south through the open space and return via the trees to include different sorts of habitat. July starts to be a quieter time for birds, but you never know what we might see and hear! A significant portion of the route lends itself to finding birds by their sounds, because the tree canopy is high. We’ll finish around 10:30 AM.
Saturday, July 31
Union Bay Natural Area This trip is full. Register to join the wait list.
Leader: Julia Hansbrough (day of trip only: 270-799-9359)
Meet: 9:00am at the Center for Urban Horticulture in the East parking lot off NE 41st Street, one block beyond the place where Mary Gates Memorial Drive turns left to become NE 41st Street.
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), B (mostly gravel trails, with some soft ground or mud), ~ 1.5 miles walking
Limit: 9
Union Bay Natural Area lies in northeast Seattle, east of the University of Washington. Meet at the Center for Urban Horticulture in the East parking lot off NE 41st Street, one block beyond the place where Mary Gates Memorial Drive turns left to become NE 41st Street. Over by 11:00AM.
August 2021 Field Trips
Registration for the below trips opens Tuesday, August 2 at 10:00am. A link to reigster will be posted on August 2.
Monday, August 9, 2021
Birding the High Country! Shadow Lake and the Burroughs
Leader: Jon Houghton
Meeting Point: 6:45 AM, Green Lake (Ravenna) P&R – Northern section of lot
Limit: 7 in 2 cars Note: Those not fully vaccinated are prohibited from participating in Seattle Audubon field trip carpools.
Trip Accessibility: 3 (vigorous hiking), D (trails with steep hills and significant elevation gain) 4-5 miles hiking.
This will be a fairly rigorous hike through some of the most accessible and scenic highlands in the US!! We’ll start at 6,400 feet at Sunrise and head down through subalpine forest to Shadow Lake, then ascend up the south side of First Burroughs (7,300 feet) into alpine meadows. Depending on time and conditions, we may opt for a relatively short extension (1-mile round trip) up Second Burroughs (7,400 feet). Expect fabulous views and some late-summer flowers! Probably not a lot of birds, but they’ll be high altitude specialists with some pretty hard to find possibilities. We’ll be birding subalpine parkland and alpine tundra for things like American Pipit, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, Clark’s Nutcracker, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Prairie Falcon and Pine Grosbeak with several other possibilities. This will be an all-day trip. Bring your valid Interagency Access or a Mount Rainier Annual Pass if you have one. Carpool cost: $55 shared equally by riders + possibly $30 per car for park entrance fee for one car. Over early evening.
Friday, August 13, 2021
Jetty Island, Everett
Leader: Bev Bowe
Meeting Point: 9:30am at the Jetty Island Ferry Kiosk, directly South of the boat ramps. Note: masks are mandatory for all while riding the ferry.
Limit: 9
Trip Accessibility: 1-2 (meandering about the island on sand, beaches, and muddy tideland. Not ADA accessible); B (wet beaches/tideland and sand paths); ~2 miles roundtrip.
We will explore Everett’s Jetty Island, a 2-mile-long human-made island that acts as a breakfront for the Everett Marina. Expect to see Raptors, Shorebirds, Swallows, Gulls, Terns, Hummingbirds, and more; this is a great place for surprises! We will meet and bird at the Ferry Dock, then hop aboard and ride across to the island where we will first check out the North end lagoon for shorebirds and waterfowl, then head South to look for Whimbrels, Plovers, Sandpipers and other Shorebirds. The island has no running water so bring water to drink and a snack if needed. The ferry has a reservation system now; the tickets have been purchased and will be handed out at meeting time – $3.40 (tickets + fees) payable to the leader. Parking fee payable at pay stations in the lot ($3.00 – $5.00). Over by 1:30pm.
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Richmond Beach Park, Shoreline, WA
Leader: Joe Sweeney
Meeting Point: 8:00am Parking lot at the bottom of the entrance road, near the Restrooms
Limit: 7
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), C (hiking trails with gentle rolling hills), 2-3 miles walking
Expect to walk 2-3 leisurely paced miles, including some hills and steps. We will first walk the main paths and steps in this very scenic park. Then, we’ll return to our cars, grab our spotting scopes, and walk the short distance to the beach for some seabird watching overlooking the Puget Sound. The weather is usually cooler on the beach, so wear layers and rain gear, if necessary. Bring binoculars, of course, and a scope, if you have one. Note: Due to Covid-19, we will not share our scopes. However, a pair of binoculars is all you need to enjoy the walk. Over by 10:30am.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Union Bay Natural Area, Seattle
Leader: Julia Hansbrough (day of trip only: 270-799-9359)
Meeting Point: 9:00 AM, Center for Urban Horticulture, East Parking Lot (near greenhouses)
Trip Accessibility: 1 (leisurely pace), B (mostly gravel trails, with some soft ground or mud), ~ 1.5 miles walking
Limit: 9
Union Bay Natural Area lies in northeast Seattle, east of the University of Washington. Meet at the Center for Urban Horticulture in the East parking lot off NE 41st Street, one block beyond the place where Mary Gates Memorial Drive turns left to become NE 41st Street. Over by 11:00AM.
Trip Accessibility Indicators
