Trip Report
Magnuson Park
Between NSLC sessions at noon, I took my dog for a 3+ mile loop birding in the wetlands and waterfront. High winds limited our access to 24 species and nothing on Lake WA in the time we had.
Courtenay Schurman
- Sat, Dec 6, 2025
- Magnuson Park
- Naturalist
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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There were TONS of people enjoying the park today around noon: soccer games, kite flying, wind surfing, visiting the off-leash dog park, jogging, walking. I don't usually go to public parks on weekends (and now I remember why). Fortunately, on the wetland trails, there were hardly any visitors.
The portapotty and waterfront facility I visited both had TP despite heavy use and traffic. And the Mountaineers opened the south parking area, since the club was expecting over 250 people in attendance/presenting/volunteering for the North Sound Leadership Development conference.The trails we walked on were in good shape, all except for one muddy wetland trail we had to cross to get back to the road. We saw clear evidence of beaver activity all over the place, along with a few downed trees across the paths, but nothing that prevented access.
Between morning and afternoon North Sound Leadership Conference sessions at the Program Center, I took my dog birding so we could stretch our legs and get some fresh air. I'd parked near the western part of the park (near Sand Point Way) so our 3.25 mile loop started there. We walked to the southeast waterfront via the wetlands, north along the lakefront, then back due west through the offleash dog park area.
We got to enjoy 24 bird species including a belted kingfisher, gadwalls, a few northern flickers and downy woodpeckers (appropriate as I'd just listened to Paul Bannick give a delightful presentation on woodpeckers around the world), Canada geese (on the waterfront lawn), buffleheads, and mallards.
The wind was gusting something fierce, so we didn't spend much time scanning the lake - no huge flotillas of coots or other waterfowl were visible when we started our trek north and back.
A lovely, beautiful (albeit windy!) sunny mid-day. Stats were 3.25 miles in 1:26, a nice little birding outing before the last talk of the afternoon.