One of the Wedgwood neighborhood’s finest resources is the Seattle Audubon Nature Shop at 8050 35th Ave NE. The shop carries supplies for birds and for birders, educational materials for children and books that anyone would love, such as the new edition of Birding in Seattle and King County. The author, Gene Hunn, has updated the original edition published in 1982, with a wealth of new material. Mr. Hunn was an Anthropology faculty member at the UW until he retired in 2010, and he was president of the Seattle Audubon Society from 1988 to 1990. The new edition of Birding in Seattle and King County has updated maps of all the latest birding sites as far east as the Cascade Crest.
Mr. Hunn commends the work that has been done in two areas of northeast Seattle which have become important bird habitats after environmental reclamation. The former Sand Point Naval Air Station and Magnuson Park now have man-made wetland ponds which support wildlife. The Union Bay Natural Area, also called the Montlake Fill, is a former garbage dump. The Fill extends from Husky Stadium to Laurelhurst along the shore of Union Bay, and the fields and shores now teem with birds.
The Seattle Audubon Nature Shop is a great place to begin your holiday-season gift shopping, and don’t forget something for the birds, too! Bird feeders and information on types of seeds is available at the shop or on the bird info hotline at 523-4483.
This Sunday, November 4, Seattle Audubon will host a Bird Walk and Talk at Discovery Park with Gene Hunn, author of the just-released Birding in Seattle and King County, second edition. The walk will begin at 3 PM in the Discovery Park Visitors Center. At 4:30 there will be a warm-up time with hot drinks. From 5 to 6 PM there will be a presentation by Mr. Hunn, followed by book-signing.