Birding at Kent Ponds in Washington

For over a year I've been occasionally visiting an area I called Green River Conservation in Kent, Washington. It was a nice place to go for a change in my birding routine. Recently, I took a beginning/intermediate birding class which led me there for a fantastic experience. Now I've learned a lot about the place. Green River Conservation is part of what's called Kent Ponds. Kent ponds has a lot to offer for many people, partly because of what's around it. I'd like to describe what I've seen, with an emphasis on birding and my most recent expedition there.

First, Kent Ponds is accessible from I-5 and I-67. From I-5 Take exit 152, Orillia Road. Go East on Orillia Road, which becomes South 212th until you get to 64th Avenue.

From I-67 take the 212th St Exit. Turn left onto 212th and travel to 64th Avenue.

Turn left onto 64th Avenue. There are several entrances to Kent Ponds. One is on 64th Avenue at a little pullout on the right about a half mile down 64th Avenue. Another small parking spot is as you turn right at the corner of 64th to South 226th Street. This spot will lead to the Powerline Trail, which many people enjoy walking along. Or, after turning on South 226th you can drive to Russell Road. Turn right onto Russell Road. Now Kent Ponds is to your right and there are several small parking areas along it. Van Doren's Landing Park is on the left, with play equipment for the children and restrooms. There are also some fishing spots on the left of Russell Road. across from Kent Ponds. Bicyclist ride up and down this narrow street and of course there's lots of pedestrians.

The area offers recreation and playground equipment for children. There's picnicking at the Van Doren 's Landing Park. There's good fishing in the area. Bicyclists enjoy riding there. The Powerline Trail is a nice place for a walk or a jog. The immediate area surrounding the conservation is a wonderful place to take the family. I go specifically for the birding.

With three viewing towers and plenty of trails Kent Ponds is a birders heaven. Down on the ground I see the common songbirds which usually move too fast for me to identify. I enjoy standing in the towers and viewing Mount Rainier, airplanes flying in and, best of all, Raptors soaring. I've seen eagles and hawks from the towers. It's an awesome experience.

In my most recent visit I was with a bird watching class. Although I've been birding for a few years I've really struggled with identifying birds and so I signed up for this class which involved two class room hours and 2 field trips. The first one was to Kent Ponds. On this field trip we were looking for water birds so we started for the water. It was a windy day, and the water birds were staying close to shore. My companions saw a Harrier while I was looking through a scope at the water birds. I was so disappointed not to see him! We headed on down the trail and as they were looking over the water I saw a large bird flying. Was it the Harrier? I asked my companions. We all trained our binoculars on the raptor and gasped in unison. It was a bald eagle, soaring towards the water. The water birds saw him, too. They lined up as close as possible near the shore. We turned our binoculars from the water back to the eagle. We watched breathlessly as he flew about, finally flying out of our sight.

We turned our attention again to the water birds, seeing ring billed ducks, and coots and widgeons. Some one looked up and called our attention to another raptor, this time on the right of us. We trained our binoculars up and saw two red tailed hawks, flying about and touching each other once. Someone noticed in the distance a third red tailed hawk, so they deducted the two were showing the distant one that they were mates. It was amazing to watch.

But we were trying to learn about water birds so when the hawks settled down we tried again to turn our attention to our subjects. It didn't happen. A Cormorant flew in. We watched him land, dive, come up and dive again. Then he clamored onto a rock and gave us a wonderful show as he held his wings open for the wind to dry them. We watched him for about five minutes. But, back again to our left a peregrine Falcon stole our attention. He flew low and, maybe because he was the first I've ever seen, he was beautiful. The red tailed hawks started their performance again just as the Falcon left. In about 30 minutes my bird list had expanded by several lines. I had to leave soon after that and only saw a small black capped chickadee on my way out. But Kent Ponds will always hold a lot of anticipation for me now.

Whether you live in Kent, Washington or you're visiting if you're a birder come to Kent Ponds. It's a great place to visit and see birds. Check out the water, the land and the air. I'm sure it will be worth it.