Nature Abounds On The Sammamish River

Sammamish River wildflower/ John Reinke

Salmon and Art On The Central Connector Trail

double click to enlarge

When walking across the Redmond Central Connector railroad trestle bridge we heard and saw salmon splashing in the Sammamish River below us. They were hard to see but persistence paid off. They migrate from August to November so there's plenty of time to see them. 

Eight panels of iron art are attached to the bridge. As you walk down the trail towards the Overlake Church these colored "boulders" welcome you for a rest. (Public Works Art?)  The entire trail is pervious and awesome for the environment but very expensive.  Low profile "street" lights line the trail.  

It was 4:15 and there was plenty of traffic.  An electric scooter zoomed by.  We saw three Limes.  Two were parked and one with a rider.  He told us he rides the Connector to Overlake then over the river and as far as the Burke-Gilman Trail.  He said it's fun!  We also saw about 3 bicyclists, a few joggers, some hikers and a couple dog walkers.  

Get out and watch those fish flip and flap!  We saw a 2 footer  jump completely out of the water!

-- Bob Yoder, 8/31/2021

Sammamish River Eagles by John Reinke

Photo by Reinke

 

Sammamish River Eagles - Photos By John Reinke

Parent with eaglet - John Reinke, Redmond resident

Eagle is turning it's head 180 degrees!  - John Reinke

 

Sammamish River Swallows by Reinke

(l-r) Olive Green Swallow, Barn Swallow

(l-r) Barn Swallow, Olive Green Swallow, Tree Swallow

 "I had never before seen these swallows perch anywhere along the [Sammamish] river, although they can be seen all the time swooping and diving in the air, back and forth along the river, catching insects "on the fly".  - John Reinke, 5/19/2021

In the Light of the Shining Moon

 

Waxing Gibbous Moon as seen from the Sammamish River Trail ~ 5-fold magnification
Photo by John Reinke, 4/22/2021 : 6.49 p.m.

For those who weren't Boy or Girl Scouts, "waxing" means becoming a full moon. 

I see the moon and the moon sees me,
The moon sees somebody I wanna see
God bless the moon and God bless me:
And God bless that somebody I wanna see.

Clifton Johnson, 1896

Pandemic Pedaling - Bikes Everywhere!

 

Doing it right, on the Sammamish River Trail, Photography by John Reinke 

Cackling Geese Seen On Sammamish River

Just north of the 90th Street bridge I saw a fair number of folks walking and riding bikes up and down the trail, but these "Cackling geese" paid no attention to them as they munched away on the grass.  Some folks approached fairly closely to take photos, as I did also.  The geese didn't object or scuttle away.

I had come upon them as I headed north along along the Sammamish River.  After taking a number of photos, I turned around and walked back south.  As I did so, I kept an eye on the grass growing between the trail and the river, on which the geese had been feeding.  I discovered lots of goose poop spread along this area for at least 100 yards south from where I had first encountered them.  I would guess they must have already been on the scene for close to an hour to have chewed their way through this stretch of land.

Conclusion:  Free grass clipping and free fertilizer!  What more could we ask from our feathered friends?

FYI: Cackling geese are a separate species that closely resemble Canada Geese, but are smaller in size.

[ to learn about cackling geese, go to this link: https://www.audubon.org/news/learn-tell-cackling-goose-canada-goose ]  

-- Picture and story by John Reinke, 1/17/2001

What a Look

 

She looks quite ravishing, what with her 'flower power' eyes and festooned with a striking fuchsia scarf around her shoulders.  She is certainly a cheery addition to our otherwise drab winter scene.  -- John Reinke, 2/17/2021, Sammamish River.

New Sign Unites Our Community

A new trilingual sign staked at the entrance to Redmond Police Department headquarters comforts our community.  The sign was staked on January 9th, three days after the insurrection in our nation's Capital. 

Photo by John Reinke, 1/9/2001

Senior Center is demolished

On the second day of the Senior Center demolition, this lady with baby carriage strolls past the Center towards the Sammamish River Trail. On the first day Mayor Birney showed up for a photo op with a golden sledgehammer.  

- Photo Reinke  11/20/2020

Redmond's "Species Of Local Importance"

 

Do you know the Great Blue Heron is Redmond's "Species Of Local Importance?"  Do you why it's taking this pose?  Leave a comment below to register your response.

Photo by John Reinke

Sammamish River 90th Street Stormwater run-off Pond

The day after Halloween near the Senior  Center - by John Reinke

Trick Or Treat!

Reinke, 10/22/2020

Redmond - A City In Transition

Redmond City Hall - By John Reinke, 10/24/2020

Bear Creek/ Keller Rehabilitation Expenses To Improve Salmon Habitat

 

Project Overview

"The City of Redmond will be constructing log jams in Bear Creek to improve salmon habitat. The project is located adjacent to the Keller Wetland Mitigation Bank (KWMB) project on the former Keller farm. In the fall and winter, the City’s Washington Conservation Corps crew will plant 3 acres of the Bear Creek buffer.

Restoring habitat in this stream reach is important for Chinook salmon recovery. It is identified in the WRIA 8 Chinook Conservation Plan, along with the adjacent KWMB project. The Bear Creek project is funded by City stormwater fees and by a $340,000 award from the Cooperative Watershed Management grant program."

redmond.gov/ sign photo by John Reinke.  

Bear Creek Restoration At Friendly Village

The restoration is intended to improve Chinook breeding habitat 

click to enlarge

The Adopt A Stream Foundation (AASF) has launched a major project to restore chinook salmon breeding habitat in the portion of Bear Creek that flows through Friendly Village, a forty plus acre manufactured home residence park operated by the King County Housing Authority in eastern Redmond.

click to enlarge

The project involves modifying the banks of the stream in ways that create pools and backwaters that encourage salmon to spawn and provide safe habitats for salmon fry, while they mature enough to be able to migrate back downstream to the ocean.  Stream modification is accomplished by using boulders to stabilize woody debris and logs securely into the banks in pre-designed patterns. (click image to enlarge.) 

The first phase of the project began in the last week of August and is expected to last about a month.  The idea is to recreate the salmon-    favorable stream conditions that existed before the land was cleared and cultivated.

AASF received grant funding for this project from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, which was created by the Washington State Legislature to protect and restore salmon habitat. In the near future, native shrubs and trees will be planted along the banks to cool instream temperatures and provide future woody debris.

-Reported and photos by John Reinke

Click pictures to enlarge.

BLM Display On Sammamish River Trail

On Thursday July 9th, I went for a walk along the Sammamish River Trail here in Redmond.

I was surprised to discover that some individual or group had organized a display of a series of

photographs of African Americans who have been killed by police during the past few years here in the USA.

I counted 48 individually placed signs neatly spaced along the east side of the Trail, just south of where it 

intersects with the western end of the Powerline Trail.  44 of the signs were photographs of named individuals,

sometimes shown with members of their families and often mentioning a few details of their lives and the recent 

year in which they were killed.  

For me personally, seeing photos of these folks at positive times in their lives had a strong emotional impact,

to realize that they were all now dead.

There was a fair amount of traffic along the Trail during the time I was there, as it had become quite sunny.

A few were obviously quite interested, although the majority did not particularly pay much attention.  I watched one woman walk along the display with her cell phone held in such a way as to indicate she was recording what

she saw. 

I visited the site again on Sunday, and discovered that all of the signs had been taken down.

-- John Reinke

    Story and photos

The Surprising Green Heron

The accompanying photo montage shows three stages of neck extension in a green heron that I observed hunting recently in the 90^th St. runoff pond, which is located on the east side of the Sammamish River, just north of the 90^th St. bridge.

When you typically see a green heron, it has its neck retracted, and you would hardly guess that the neck could be extended so far.  This was how the heron looked when I first spotted it.  (See top photo.) 

It subsequently extended its neck part way forward (middle photo), and then a few seconds later extended it all the way out (bottom photo).

The heron remained motionless with its neck fully extended for quite some time, when it abruptly sprang into flight and made a shallow dive into the water 6 or 7 feet away.  In a flash, it emerged with something in its beak and flew off to the other end of the pond.

Up until then, I had mistakenly thought it was just staring down its beak into the water immediately in front of it, without the ability to spot anything farther away.  Obviously, its peripheral vision was much better than I thought!

-- Photo and story by John Reinke

   6/29/2020

Outdoor Census Art

Outdoor art is reminding citizens to register for the Census 2020.  Four other pieces have been scattered around town.  Have you seen any of them?  There is one on Avondale (westside.) This one is in the Downtown Park.

-- Photo by Yoder