Chief Sealth, arguably the most famous member of the Duwamish Tribe, was namesake for the City of Seattle. Txwxudaw was one of the largest Duwamish villages. Recently, Lori and I were in the vicinity of the former village site near the Cedar River delta on the south shore of Lake Washington in present day Renton, to search for a rare bird.
The Duwamish inhabited this area due to its plentiful supply of salmon along the Black and Cedar Rivers. Today, the Cedar River flows between Renton Airport and a huge Boeing plant through a narrow park strip into Lake Washington. Even after two centuries of development, habitat loss, and channeling of the rivers, salmon still spawn in the Cedar River.
The Cedar River delta teems with hundreds of gulls, coots, ducks, a few Bald Eagles, grebes and the occasional rare or “accidental” species. We were fortunate to eventually find two of the latter.
A Slaty-backed Gull drew dozens of birders to this spot over the past week. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Slaty-backed Gull is primarily an Asian species that regularly occurs in western Alaska, but rarely elsewhere in North America.
Finding this heavy-set gull with a dark-gray mantle (back), and bubble-gum-pink legs was not easy. Birds here are flushed by airplanes taking off and landing at Renton Airport on the west bank of the Cedar River. Periodically, the airport detonates explosives accompanied by flashing lights to clear birds from the runway. This also has the effect of clearing them from the delta. At other times, Bald Eagles fly over the delta, temporarily clearing the birds below.
As if these deterrents were not enough, there are usually 100-plus gulls gathered in the driftwood and muddy islands that comprise the mouth of the Cedar River. Sorting through this mass of gray and white is a challenge. You search for details to distinguish them such as size, color of mantle (back), leg, bill and eye color. This requires methodically looking at each one in search of an outlier.
On our first two attempts we looked through our optics until our eyes blurred
at the 100-plus gulls comprised mainly of Glaucous-winged Gulls, but also including: California, Ring-billed, Herring, Iceland and Short-billed Gulls. The Slaty-backed Gull was nowhere to be found. When we returned home, we saw on E-Bird that someone else had seen it that day. Another frustrated birder who submitted his list on E-Bird from the same location placed a zero next to Slaty-backed Gull with the comment: “I suck!” That’s kind of how we felt.
Nonetheless, we came back for a third attempt during the week of the “Bomb
Cyclone” – a powerful storm with high winds and rain. This time we brought lunch and did chores beforehand to ensure a sense of accomplishment. Back at Txwxudaw, while sorting through a flock of gulls, Lori exclaimed “I think I see a different one!” We focused our scope and binoculars on a large gull with a smudgy head, a dark mantle and pale-yellow eye. Eventually it paddled into an open stretch of water, where we and other birders saw it well. Finally, a Slaty-backed Gull!
There were smiles all around. This was a life bird for most of us, including for Lori and me. The fact that Lori spotted it was significant and ironic. Ironic because Lori, who is a keen birder, initially resisted studying gulls. However, on this day, she sorted through them like a pro until she found one that stood out from the rest.
Soon afterword we had yet another rare bird sighting: a Burrowing Owl. This petite owl was nestled in a narrow grassy patch along the park access road. It peered with half-shut sleepy eyes at a dozen birders with their big scopes and cameras.
Burrowing Owls breed in central Washington and migrate south to Nevada, California and/or Mexico for the winter. This one likely paused on its migratory journey due to stormy conditions and a powerful south headwind.
Burrowing Owls are in short-supply. Their numbers have declined due to the loss of shrub-steppe and grassland habitat, and the killing of Prairie Dogs and ground squirrels that dig burrows that the owls use. Efforts are underway by Nature Conservancy, Department of Wildlife and Audubon to protect and restore shrub-steppe habitat, even installing PVC pipe tunnels to attract Barred Owls.
This was indeed a big day that included two rare species of birds, sixteen other species of birds, and spawning salmon. Most amazing was that such a degraded area can still support wildlife. Herein lies hope and opportunity.
As Chief Sealth once said “If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.”
Photo credits: All photos taken by Woody Wheeler, except:
Duwamish Canoe and Longhouse – www.historylink.org
Birding at Cedar River Mouth – Lori Cohen
Chief Sealth – from Grandson Jaquar Bird’s post and upload https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ljdjbgbc1Y
Sources of Duwamish Tribe and Chief Seattle information:
Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name by David M. Buerge
Coast Salish Photographs and Maps PDF, Renton Historical Museum
