Two Ducks Wish You a Happy Holiday

Hope you and yours are having a lovely holiday season! 

Two Ducks at Beaver Pond Natural Area
Ph Credit - Bob Barta
Seattle

These pair of mallards were seen by former Shoreline resident Bob Barta at Beaver Pond Natural Area in Northgate neighborhood. This is the park formerly known as Thornton Creek Park #6 at 8th NE between NE 105-104th Sts. A beaver clan has transformed this park into an amazing urban wildlife refuge. 


It's a great place to do some bird and wildlife watching during this holiday season.


Bob and Ingrid Barta now live at Alijoya Senior housing at Thornton Place and enjoy visiting the park frequently. Thornton Creek is the largest watershed in Shoreline and Seattle. Beaver Pond NA is located near the headwaters of the South Branch of Thornton Creek.


Happy Holdiays everyone!

Make Way for Ducklings at Northgate!

Mama duck and 4 ducklings meandering through the rushes at the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel at Thornton Place. 

Mamma Mallard and 4 ducklings sighted at Thornton Place
ph credit - Janet Way

Wildlife where there was once nothing but asphalt. How fun is that? 

One duckling leading the way at Northgate.
Maybe he wants to head up to Nordstrom for a sale?
ph credit - Janet Way

Thornton Place Gets Great Review on NRDC Blog

Kaid Benfield's Blog, published by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) has published a wonderful, glowing article about the Thornton Place Urban Center at Northgate. It talks about the amazing, signature Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel, but also the surrounding development which is also wonderful to see coming alive.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/outstanding_urbanism_and_state.html#comment14316

View towards Alijoya Senior Housing
across the TC Water Quality Channel
ph credit - SvR

Leave it to a city famous for coffee and rain to produce possibly the best example of transit-oriented urbanism, natural public space, and green stormwater infrastructure I have ever seen.  This Seattle redevelopment is green in so many ways that it is hard to know where to start.

Northgate South Parking lot
BEFORE

AFTER 

The Kaid article gives a wonderful review of how the place works and now functions in the Northgate area, which has been transformed by this award winning development.

But, the article does not explain how it all became a reality. The story of how the Thornton Place project finally came to fruition is the story of activism, legal action, and steadfast belief in what was right. 

The Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund which was created in 1999 by Bob Vreeland, Brian Bodenbach and Janet Way, filed the legal appeals, did the research, commissioned the feasibility study, wrangled with a series of developers, politicians and bureaucrats and finally succeeded in Daylighting Thornton Creek. It was brought about by brave stances taken by many including City Councilmembers like Richard Conlin and Nick Licata (AND back then Peter Steinbrueck, Heidi Wills, and Judy Nicastro). The other councilmembers at the time also got on board, and finally Greg Nickels and SPU came through and got it done.

The visionary developer, Bruce Lorig was willing to take the risk and Stellar Holdings backed him up.

Now Thornton Place is "Where It All Connects".

http://www.thornton-place.com/

Thornton Place Plaza "Where it all Connects"

Peggy Gaynor was the original designer of the Thornton Creek Daylighting project with a Feasibility Study that brought the concept to reality. Later SPU hired SvR to finalize the details and manage the 

implementation. 

Knoll Lowney of Smith & Lowney firm was the great attorney that guided us through the many legal twists and turns for over 5 years.

TCLDF and Supporters Who Got It Done!
June 2009 Ribbon Cutting at Thornton Creek
Water Quality Channel
L-R Lauren Barber, Llyn Doremus, Lisa Dekker, Janet Way, Bob Vreeland, Pat Sumption,
Knoll Lowney, Clmbr Richard Conlin, Michael Brokaw, Cheryl Klinker, Gloria Butts,
Jan Brucker, Pam Johnson, John and Summer Lombard
And Many, Many Others!

Here is the Kaid Benfield Blog Post, click for more after the jump.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/outstanding_urbanism_and_state.html#comment14316

Maybe we should start with the parking lot, because that’s what the whole nine-acre site was before redevelopment began.  Ugly.  Horrible for the environment.  A complete waste of urban space. 

  

The site is in an area that is transitioning from automobile-oriented and suburban in feel to walkable and lively.  It sits just south of the Northgate shopping mall, northeast of a community college, a couple of blocks east of the I-5 freeway and just west of an area of single-family homes.  It is transit-rich, however, just a block from a major bus transfer station (with planned light rail access).  You can see the current bus lines in orange on the satellite image.  With better amenities and some investment, the potential for smart, green redevelopment is immense.

  

Enter the city of Seattle, with a sophisticated initiative to bring long-buried Thornton Creek back to life above the surface, where it belongs.  Add lots of carefully planned nature (not really an oxymoron when we’re dealing with a city), arranged to be highly walkable and educational as well as environmentally beneficial.  The creek restoration was led under contract to the city by Seattle’s SvR Design, which previously designed the landscape and green infrastructure features of the much-celebrated, mixed-incomeHigh Point development, also in Seattle.

Here’s how the Landscape Architecture Foundation puts it:

“Carved out of an abandoned parking lot, the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel treats urban stormwater runofffrom 680 acres within a necklace of channels, pools, and terraces designed to mimic the performance of a natural creek. Its lush plantings, overlooks, and paths have added 2.7 acres of public open space to the Northgate Urban Center and catalyzed surrounding redevelopment. The facility is a model for how multi-functional landscapes can be integrated into the dense urban fabric.” 

The redevelopment not only added 530 units of housing (net density: 96 units per acre) and 50,000 square feet of retail space; it simultaneously accomplished the following, according to the LAF:

• Increased open space within the Northgate Urban Center by about 50%.
• Provided pedestrian links from adjacent commercial and residential neighborhoods, shortening walking distances by 50%.
• Reduced impervious surfaces by 78%.
• Designed to remove an estimated 40-80% of total suspended solids from 91% of the average volume of annual stormwater runoff from the 680-acre drainage basin.
• Created new habitat within this heavily paved commercial area. Within one month after opening, native birds were observed at the project. A variety of desirable native volunteer plants have migrated into the site and begun to establish.

85 percent of the project’s plant palette are native species, including 172 native trees, 1,792 native shrubs, and 49,000 native perennials, herbs, grasses, rushes, and sedges.  The planting mix and the channel’s alignment will be allowed to evolve naturally over time.  When was the last time you saw this much additional urban density, increased natural space and reduced imperviousness on the same site?  (For more of the technical details, see the city’s extensive report on the project.)

Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel - Spring Flowering

A Green Project Ten Years in the Making Is 
Now in Full Flower

Killdeer hops through riparian zone
ph-credit

Sandra Egtvet

At Northgate's Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel at Northgate's Thornton Place,
Spring is up and running. Flowers are blooming and wildlife is in view. On a recent 10 minute walk we saw 5 bird species and butterflies enjoying the day and numerous blooming plants.
http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/Drainage_&_Sewer_System/Projects/COS_002477.asp

Plover-Killdeer at Thornton Place
ph credit - Sandra Egvet

Last week we saw a pair of Killdeer with a likely nest nearby.

Upper Wetland/creek Channel Area at
TCWQ Channel
ph credit - Janet Way

Many plants are coming into full flower now. Check the Washington Native Plant Society site for more information.

http://www.wnps.org/plants/tolmiea_menziesii.html

Peg Gaynor (R) and a friend 

2009 ph credit - Janet Way

Peggy Gaynor and  Peg Staheli SvR were primary designers that brought the design to life.

Last May we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund's legal victory on May 18th that  gave the momentum to get Thronton Creek Daylighted.
http://ofparamount.blogspot.com/2010/05/anniversary-of-two-eruptions-that.html

This year we celebrate the way the channel is growing truly green!

A "Green Wall" next to the path in bloom
with lovely "piggy back"

Youth-On-Age, Piggy-back Plant, Thousand Mothers

Red Currant Bush (Ribes sanguineum)

Lupinus latifolius - native lupine

in downstream channel

The Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel is at one of the "headwaters" of the Thornton Creek Watershed. The Creek Daylighting project was completed by SPU in 2009 with the cooperation and coordination with Lorig on the Thornton Place Development.

This was after a community process and controversy that took 5 years to resolve and finally an groundbreaking agreement with parties in 2004-5. The original proposal by Simon Properties back in 1998 was abandoned and a process that took ten years was finally celebrated in June 2009. 

Now, it is a joy to see the plantings growing into real assets and the creek flowing and cascading downstream towards Lake Washington. 

Amalanchier (Western Serviceberry) or Mock Orange next 3rd NE entrance looking
eastward towards the Alijoya Senior Housing
ph credit - Janet Way

You can visit the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel anytime. Take in a movie at the Thornton Place Regal Cinemas and go for a walk. The entrances are located at 3rd NE or 5th Ave NE between NE 100th and 103rd.

It is an award winning, and effective water quality project and also, the surrounding developments are a miracle of cooperation from a visionary developer, Bruce Lorig. It is a crowning engineering and design
achievement for the Seattle area.
http://www.lorig.com/d_thornton.htm

Also, the Alijoya Senior Housing development is open and filling up with happy seniors.
http://www.aljoyathornton.com/p/senior_living/directions_northgate/seattle-wa-98125/aljoya-thorton-place-northgate-2754

Thornton Creek Work Party this Sunday

Thornton Creek Park Six is an ongoing location for stewardship in North Seattle. It is directly across the street from Northgate (and Thornton Place and Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel). 

It is an important headwaters area of the South Branch of Thornton Creek, which is the largest watershed
in Seattle and Shoreline and hosts 5 species of salmonids including chinook. It is truly an amazing resource for nature lovers right in the center of North Seattle.

This Sunday is your last opportunity of the year to help our directly on a Thornton Creek work party.

Wooduck sighted at Park Six Pond
photo credit - Don MacCall

What better opportunity to work of some of those calories in between the winter feasts??
And the current forecast promises no rain on our day.

When: Dec. 5 (Sun.)
Time: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Where:  Meet on the south side of NE 105th, between 5th Ave. NE and 8th Ave.
NE.  From here we'll work our  way north into the park.
Tasks:  Weeding around the new plants, mulching, and putting temporary cages
around the saplings to protect them from hungry beavers
in the spring.

As usual:  tools, gloves, snacks, and hot/cold beverages will be provided.
Please bring your water bottle.
Questions:  Respond to this e mail address or phone 206-930-8965.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thornton Creek Park Six Natural Area
photo credit - Janet Way

If you have time be sure to check out the beaver pond!  With last summer's
work parties, and a large group of Girl Scouts working there this fall, the
viewing area is looking really nice. 

 Also note what a busy beaver buffet it still is!  

The Wood Ducks are back, but has anyone seen the two Great Blue
Herons that were always there until last spring?  

Anniversary of Two Eruptions that Rocked the Region

Legal Victory at Northgate Ten Years Ago Today

Last June Supporters of Thornton Creek Celebrated at Thornton Place

L to R - Lauren Barber, Llyn Doremus, Lisa Dekker, Janet Way, Bob Vreeland, Pat Sumption,

Knoll Lowney, Clmbr Richard Conlin, Michael Brokaw, Cheryl Klinker, Gloria Butts, Jan Brucker,

Pam Johnson, and John and Summer Lombard (and hundreds more not pictured including the intrepid Molly Burke and brilliant designer Peg Gaynor)

May 18th 2000, was a day that rocked Seattle in the region because the Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund and supporters won in Superior Court, against the largest mall owner on earth and changed the face of Northgate.  The legal victory that day eventually made it possible to get all the parties to work together to Daylight Thornton Creek at the South Parking Lot at Northgate. Hundreds of supporters worked tirelessly on the campaign to Daylight Thornton Creek against all odds. 

Peg Staehli and Peg Gaynor - Designers

Our brilliant attorney Knoll Lowney (Smith & Lowney) was able to pull every possible idea out of a hat to bring about the ultimate solution. We would not have been successful without the wonderful partnerships we developed with many groups including Citizens for a Livable Northgate, Maple Leaf Community Council and the four other Northgate Neighborhoods (Victory Heights, Haller Lake, Licton Springs, Pinehurst) Cascade Chapter of Sierra Club, Washington Conservation Voters, Seattle City Council, Northgate Stakeholders, Northgate Chamber and many, many more. 

Now the creek runs free thanks to a visionary developer, Bruce Lorig and Seattle Public Utilities and Mayor Greg Nickels who really did come through. The salmon can now come back!

Thornton Creek Flows Free Again - June 19, 2009

Thornton Place and Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel

And

Mt Saint Helens Eruption

Photo Credit - USGS

Mike Doukas

Mt St Helens Eruption 1980

May 18th is the 30th Anniversary of the Eruption of Mt St Helens

COUNTDOWN TO THE MT. ST. HELENS ERUPTION: THE SUSPENSE!

Story from Discovery News - Earth News

On the morning of May 18, Mt. St. Helens finally exploded, more powerfully than any expected. Fifty-seven people were killed in the blast, which registered a magnitude 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. Johnston was never seen or heard from again.

It was one of the most significant eruptions of the 20th century, both for what we learned scientifically, and because it brought the awesome power of a volcanic eruption into the living rooms of everyone in America for the first time.

Thirty years later, it's worth going back for a second look.

In Memory of Geologist Dave Johnson who lost his life monitoring the eruption of Mt St Helens.

Wildlife Photo Features - Great Blue Heron Sightings-Update!

Additional Photo of Heron Rookery in Kenmore. 

Thanks to Vicki Westberg for sending this photo of the remarkable Heron Rookery in Kenmore. 

Next to an ugly municipal parking lot is a remarkable resource. Kenmore hosts the Heron Rookery,
which is home to at least 55 nests and likely over 100 Great Blue Herons. This is a vast wetland, which is a part of the huge Swamp Creek Watershed, which feeds Lake Washington. It is an amazing site to see in the middle of a suburban city.  If you see a heron in your neighborhood, it may actually live here or maybe at Kiwanis Ravine on Magnolia Bluff. 


Let us know if you see one or if there are other heron nesting sites.


Thanks Vicki and Jan Stewart for making the treck over to Kenmore. Thanks Kenmore for preserving this amazing wildlife habitat. 


Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hosts a webcam at the Kenmore Library.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/heroncam/


Wildlife Photo Feature - Great Blue Heron seen April 12th at Thornton Creek Park # 6. 

It was reported by Ruth Williams of TCA that it consumed two fish in five minutes. This is significant because the huge bird was sighted in the Beaver Pond and that fish were this plentiful. It took activists many years to convince the City that there is fish habitat worth protecting in Thornton Creek. This site is just 3 blocks from Northgate and the Thornton Place development and the SPU Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel. The Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund and many others, fought for many years to
ensure that the project was built and designed with fish passage protections. The project designers have won several awards including a recent WASLA award.

There are several well known "heron rookeries" or nesting sites in the area, which are protected by State law. Seattle hosts one at Kiwanis Ravine in the Magnolia neighborhood. Kenmore and the Renton also have large rookeries. Earthcorps has held work parties and restoration projects there, co-sponsored by
Heron Habitat Helpers.

Photo Credit - Don MacCall and Ruth Williams

The Great Blue Heron is considered a "Priority Species" by WA State. 

Seattle Audubon has a feature on this amazing bird on its website.

Great Blue Heron Facts

The Great Blue Heron belongs to a large family that includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. This world-wide family has about 60 species. The Great White Heron of Florida is a local color variation of the Great Blue and belongs to the same species. The Great Blue Heron’s long legs allow it to hunt in deeper water than most other herons and egrets. Herons have special patches of powder down feathers, which they rake with a foot, causing the powder to fall on fish it has caught. The powder causes the fish slime and oil to clump up so that the herons then can simply brush it off with a foot. Herons also rub the powder especially on the underside of their bodies to repel swamp slime and oils. The Great Blue Heron can swallow a fish many times wider than its narrow neck. Herons look for food anytime there is enough light. Studies suggest that cloudy weather is ideal for the birds to look for fish. Herons don’t just eat fish, however. They eat a wide variety of prey, including frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, insects, rodents, and small birds. In catching fish, the Great Blue Heron grabs smaller fish between the two mandibles of its bill; with a quick strike it stabs the larger fish. In the Pacific Northwest, eelgrass beds are important foraging sites for the Great Blue Heron. Herons nest in colonies. One of the largest colonies in Washington is located in Renton; last year there were approximately 135 active nests there. Great Blue Herons often reuse a nest, adding sticks to it each year. The male brings sticks and the female works them into the nest. Older nests can be recognized by their large size. Great Blue Herons lay from three to seven eggs, but the usual number is four. Young Great Blue Herons are semialtrical: they emerge from the eggs with a downy coat and their eyes open, but they aren’t able to move about and must be fed by their parents. They grow to adult size in about six weeks. Heron chicks are often aggressive toward each other, and some are pushed out of the nest. Adult Great Blue Herons have no natural predators, although bobcats and coyotes occasionally kill one while feeding on the ground. Young herons in the nest are often killed by crows, ravens, gulls, hawks, eagles, and raccoons. Eagles have been known to cause entire heron colonies to fail. It is dangerous to handle a Great Blue Heron. It can strike quickly; its bill is strong and very sharp and can cause serious injury. The Great Blue Heron breeds throughout North and Central America, the Caribbean, and the Galapagos Islands. Some populations migrate to South America for the winter. Adult herons stand around three feet tall, but can stretch to about four feet; their wingspan is about six feet. These large birds weigh only about 5 to 6 pounds. The Great blue Heron has special neck vertebrae that allow the neck to curl into an “S” shape, and its structure allows a lightning-quick strike at prey. In flight the neck is folded back into the S-shape and the legs are stretched out behind them. In flight Great Blue Herons average about 25 mph, their maximum flight speed can approach 35 mph. In the nineteenth century herons and egrets were hunted for their plumes. These beautiful feathers were popular decorations for women’s hats. Some heron species were severely depleted by hunting, which was outlawed in the early twentieth century.

Open Letter to Editors - Working for Clean Water Bill - Lets Pass This Bill, It's a No Brainer!

This important bill is now before our State Legislators. Sightline Institute's Daily has been covering this issue extensively.

"Oil's Slick Politics" by Eric DePlace

 Please send your letter to your local paper, like this -
(Should be 250 words or less for Seattle Times).

Dear Editor,

The Working for Clean Water Bill is the best chance in decades for our
State to truly make a difference for Puget Sound and other important
waterways. But now, the industries that cause the most harm are 
making excuses and asking to avoid responsibility.

It is well known that toxics like oil and fertilizers are the greatest
cause of our water quality problems, killing wildlife and making our
beaches and shellfish habitat off limits. But, as described in the
Jim Brunner article "Gas-station owners want tax overturned", oil companies
and gas station owners are now suing the State to "get out of jail
free". They want to undermine the Hazardous Substances Tax passed 22
years ago.

I have worked for over 20 years on restoration projects in the Thornton
Creek Watershed, most notably to get the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel at Northgate done.
This prize-winning project is universally seen to benefit to our urban watershed.
I've also worked in Shoreline to get LID (Low Impact Development) technologies used in our 
Aurora Phase II project, providing big water quality benefits to both Boeing and
McAleer Creeks. So I know that these are exactly the types of projects
this bill could fund, bringing many green jobs to our communities.

I hope that this bill passes and that the gas and oil companies will
accept their responsibilities. It will impose a "user fee" in effect on
the very industries that are destroying our precious water resources. It
makes sense!

Sincerely,

Janet Way
Shoreline, WA