All About Tsulos, The Small White Eaglet

Here is a recent post from the Union Bay Watch Blog published by Larry Hubbell, long-time local photographer and birder.

Out On A Limb

This July 9th, 2020 photo proves Tsuloss has begun branching.

It is hard to believe this small white eaglet, photographed on April 26th, is the same bird. She has probably replaced every feather on her body, gained close to ten pounds, increased her wingspan by close to six feet, and done it all in less than three months.

On July 3rd, Tsuloss was focused on feather cleaning and alignment. Her eaglet down appeared to be gone but her new feathers still needed to be aligned to maximize lift as she begins preparations for her first flight. 

Sadly, I am not certain of Tsuloss' gender. However, female Bald Eagles are usually larger than their mates. (This distinction is primarily useful when you see two adult birds side by side.) Nonetheless, Tsuloss' size is impressive. I am guessing, she is a female.

Possibly because of the weight difference, juvenile females are slower to develop than males. If we estimate Tsuloss was ten days old when first photographed, that would make her 92 days old as of July 17th. All About Birds estimates the nestling period is 56 to 98 days. This implies that Tsuloss should learn to fly within the next week. If you are planning a visit to see her in the nest - the sooner the better! 

The nest is located on the southeast corner of Montlake Cut. You do not need to worry about disturbing her. I suspect the nearby sewer replacement, highway construction, and the constant flow of boats through Montlake Cut has thoroughly acclimated her to humans and noise.

However, when it comes to taking her first flight she does seem to be behind schedule. Which might be another reason to assume she is female. Larger birds need extra time to reach their full size and potential. In this July 6th photo, she apparently just walked out on the easily accessed northern limb, attached at the same height as the nest.

On July 8th, she walked a bit further. When Monty returned to the nest, possibly with food, she did not fly (or even walk) over to investigate.

The parents no longer need to be constantly near the nest to protect her. Tsuloss' new feathers can handle the elements just fine.

Plus, with her fully-grown talons and bill, she could probably handle most predators as well. I suspect any predators capable of reaching the nest, will wish they hadn't.

I am often asked how to tell the difference between a young Bald Eagle and a Golden Eagle. One easy difference is that Golden Eagles have feathers covering their complete tarsus. In this photo, we can see the feathering near the lower portion of a Tsuloss' tarsus looks a lot like 'high-water' pants revealing an exposed ankle.

Also, as far as I know, Golden Eagles don't reside in cities.

On July 9th, as in our initial photo, we see Tsuloss spreading her wings. However, this appeared to be mostly a response to the wind and not a part of a consistent exercise regime.

As impressive as her wingspan and feather development is, she needs to be regularly working the wings to develop muscle strength. While I have not been at the nest around the clock, I still have not seen her flapping her wings with the expected consistency required to develop flight strength.

This July 11th photo, shows her still walking on the northern 'easy-access' branch.

On the positive side, when she reached the end of the flat portion of the branch she flew-hopped approximately two feet up onto the outer portion of the branch, where she could watch the boats passing through Montlake Cut.

This week, Tsuloss has finally taken the next step in the process. She has moved out to a westward pointing branch. I have watched her fly-hop from the branch back to the nest. She kind of scrambles into the nest, which may tend to pull it apart. Hopefully, her flight skills improve rapidly.

Earlier this week, after she returned to the nest she hurried out onto the northern branch. She was apparently trying to get a better look at Monty, who flew in and landed in a tree at the east end of the nesting grove. She was probably hoping for food delivery.

Now is an important time for all of us to be watching out for Tsuloss. At this point, if she leaves the nest I suspect at best she might glide to the ground. Even if she lands safely, I doubt she would have the strength to return to the nest. It is also possible she could easily be injured coming down. From what I have read, leaving the nest may be the most dangerous moment in an eagles life.

I would rather see her spend the next few weeks constantly flapping her wings and learning to move about in the nesting tree. 

Exploring the upper branches would give her multiple opportunities to practice short flights, precise landings, and functional takeoffs. Even though the branch to the west requires a small flight-hop, it is still at almost exactly the same height as the nest, and not enough of a challenge. I believe, she needs to work her way higher in the tree to properly develop her skills.

It also would not be surprising for her to remove some small branches and leaves, so she has room to extend her wings and practice. Over many more years, the Bald Eagles in Broadmoor have nearly denuded the tree above their nest. 

Union Bay Natural Area History And Recent Work Party To Clear Invasive Plants

Union Bay Natural Area work site prior to clearing. Below: All cleared out and ready for planting native plants.

Recently, a great group of volunteers gathered at the Union Bay Natural Area, also known as Yesler Swamp, located near the Center for Urban Horticulture and bordered by NE 41st Street and Surber Drive. 

Over 30 volunteers removed invasive blackberry bushes and planted native trees, on Martin Luther King Day of Service.  

The UW Horticulture website said about the event:

Volunteers heled to restore valuable habitat for wildlife and helped to reclaim space and resources from invasive weeds that have taken over the capped landfill and plant native vegetation. In total, volunteers helped to remove over 300 pounds of invasive Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus, and plant over 50 native plants including 15 conifer trees that will grow to provide habitat and help shade out the aggressive invasive species.  

UBNA is a small patch of wilderness among a sea of urban development. It  was not always a natural area dedicated to the conservation of birds, plants and various wildlife. For over 40 years, the area UBNA now occupies was a municipal landfill known as the Montlake dump. And underneath the mounds of toxic trash was a previously thriving wetland habitat.  

Unaware of the importance of wetlands for biodiversity, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and flood mitigation, the public was encouraged to dispose of all kinds of waste directly on top of the marsh vegetation.  

After public outcry over the toxic gasses being released into the air from the waste, the landfill was closed and capped starting in 1966. There was subsequent debate over the best use of this open area, until the University Arboretum Committee proposed to use this area as living laboratory for ecological restoration.  Since then many habitat restoration projects have been carried out by students and faculty from UW. 

Friends of Yesler Swamp and the UW Botanic Gardens have been working together for over a decade to restore the native plants of Yesler Swamp, located near the Center for Urban Horticulture and bordered by NE 41st Street and Surber Drive, as well as construct a handicapped-accessible natural wetland trail, which also serves to protect and conserve swamp wildlife and minimize human impact on the wetlands.  The  boardwalk was completed on October 16th of last year with a celebration.

Friends of Yesler Swamp has published a variety of posts regarding the history of Yesler Swamp,  including history of the area from settlement, sawmill, town of Yesler, historic photos, videos, source notes and more, on their website.

The Seattle City Council approved a Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund award of $88,887 to restore Yesler Swamp and help with the cost of construction of the boardwalk.  And the King Conservation District provided a $31,940 grant for construction of a Viewing Platform and more. 

Friends of Yesler Swamp said on their website that the trail "offers views of the wetlands, the beaver lodge and the lagoon, while protecting wildlife by directing human foot traffic away from these sensitive areas.

Go here for more information.

History Of Montlake Landfill, Formerly Located At Union Bay Natural Area

A  neighbor would like to share this interesting history of the Montlake Landfill, now knows as the Union Bay Natural area from History Link:

The Montlake Dump Cluster

Three dumps that were later repurposed by the City were clustered between what are today the southern reaches of  the Washington Park Arboretum and  University Village. One, the Washington Park Dump, at one time the city's largest, was incorporated into the Arboretum and part of it is now, as noted above, the site of the Japanese Garden. 

Another was located in the area now occupied by the Union Bay Natural Area and, from 1926 to 1966, by University of Washington parking lots and playing fields and a driving range. It was variously, and confusingly, called the Montlake Dump, Ravenna Dump, University Dump, and Union Bay Dump.

The third, the Miller Street Dump, adjacent to the north end of the Arboretum and in close proximity to the SR 520 bridge, is the only one that was actually in the Montlake neighborhood. After its years as a dump ended, the land it occupied was owned by the City parks department, but since the construction of the bridge in the early 1960s has been the property of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It is neatly bracketed by elevated ramps that enter and leave the bridge and its southern end is darkened by the unused "ramps to nowhere," the remains of the beginnings of highway projects that voters and the city halted. 

The Miller Street Landfill, called the Miller Street Dump during its working life, served for more than 20 years as one of multiple dumps scattered around Seattle, often in low-lying areas. Three large dumping grounds were arrayed between the south end of today's Washington Park Arboretum and the northern shore of Union Bay: the Washington Park Dump near the Arboretum's south end, the University Dump at the north end of Union Bay, and the Miller Street Dump on the southern shore of Union Bay. The Miller Street Dump opened sometime between 1911 and 1916, closed in 1936, and for a time was part of the Arboretum and owned by the City. When the original Evergreen Point Bridge was built in the 1960s, the property was taken over by the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Seattle's population tripled between 1900 and 1910, growing from approximately 80,000 to nearly 240,000, and garbage grew apace. In the early years of the new century, private contractors collected trash from many neighborhoods, but they often dumped it wherever they could, with a favorite spot being under the train trestles on the tidelands along Seattle's waterfront. Even before the population boom, sanctioned dumping on tide flats in south Seattle had created a pile of garbage 120 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 60 feet deep. On May 14, 1905,

According to a 1911 City survey, there were by that time nine official dumps scattered around Seattle, and garbage collection was in the hands of private contractors, paid with public funds and under the overall authority of the City's Streets Department.

This system would remain in place until 1915, when the health department took direct control of garbage-collection duties, using City employees and equipment, including two new scows to haul some of the refuse for disposal in Puget Sound. But this did nothing to stem the ever-increasing flow of garbage or the need for additional dump sites, and a 1920 survey counted 15 in operation within city limits. 

Work on the Montlake Cut portion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal project began in 1911 and was completed in 1916. Dredge materials from that project were used to fill nearby marshland. When the coffer dam holding back the waters of Lake Washington was breached in July 1916, the lake's level dropped approximately nine feet over the next three months, exposing swaths of new marshland around the perimeter of Union Bay.



Friends of Yesler Swamp also wrote about the Montlake Landfill:

NEXT DOOR TO A LANDFILL

In 1933, people began dumping trash in the Union Bay marsh. Later, the city began using the area as a garbage dump and landfill. The fill material was household garbage, rubbish, ashes, stumps, lumber and rubble. Some 11 million cubic yards of trash, including debris from the construction of the I-5 freeway, were deposited on the marsh.[57]

In the end, up to 40 feet (12.2 meters) of garbage and debris were dumped on the marsh.[58]
The idea was to “reclaim” the swamp land for building or other useful purposes. Walter L. Dunn, a professor of engineering at the University, conducted a study in 1966.

He noted:
When the work of recovery by means of refuse began in 1933, the swamp generally had the consistency of thick sludge, much of it over 60 feet deep. It has been built into a usable part of the campus.[59]

“Bulldozer at Montlake Landfill, University of Washington, August 17, 1958,” University of Washington Libraries Special Collections UW19075

Rubbish was burned on the fill until 1954, when the practice was stopped due to citizen protests. Closure of the landfill was begun in 1965 and was completed in 1971.


Not everyone favored filling the swampland with garbage. In 1951, UW Professors Higman and Larrison published their evocative journal of their visits to the swamp, Union Bay: The Life of a City Marsh.

They wrote:
It is a unique place, this marsh. Man, by building the ship canal, lowered the water of the bay until its margins became a series of exposed flats. Man is therefore responsible for the marsh. If the present trend continues, man, by continued filling, drainage, and building, will some day destroy it.[60]
Fortunately, the “useable part of the campus” — the part of the marsh that was filled in by rubbish for over 30 years — did not extend as far as the east basin.Yesler Swamp, once again, was spared.

THE REBIRTH OF YESLER SWAMP

Following closure of the landfill, the University began planning for the future of the area. Fortunately, the Washington legislature in 1971 enacted the Shoreline Management Act, whose purpose was both to preserve the natural character of the shorelines of our state as well as to increase public access to the shores.[61]

The University approved a master plan for the former landfill in 1974, designating the marshland around Yesler Swamp as “unmanaged wildlife.” The swamp at that time featured red alders, willow, a few cottonwoods and “thickets of Himalayan blackberry.”[62] In January 1978, the University decided to demolish Union Bay Village and move married student housing to other locations.[63] The natural area would instead be devoted to research and teaching. [64]
In 1993, the UW undertook a plan for the future of the Union Bay shoreline. A committee, which included Kern Ewing, was charged with preparing a management plan. The emphasis was on “the importance of preserving this freshwater wetland as a public heritage and . . . increasing concern on the part of the University faculty and students that this rare nearby habitat be available intact for future study and teaching.”[65]

The planners agreed that the entire landfill over the deep, spongy peat deposits of Union Bay was unsuitable for construction of buildings. Instead, the natural area should be reserved for teaching, wildlife habitat and recreation. A wetland study at the time characterized much of the area as “wetland.”^[66] All of area encompassing Yesler Swamp was designated as open space.^[67] Specifically, the marsh to the west of Yesler Swamp was designated as a Conservancy Preservation Shoreline area.^[68]

The planners generally recommended removing invasive non-native plants and animals, adding native plants, maximizing biodiversity, and controlling human impacts.^[69] The area would come to be known as the Union Bay Natural Area.

YESLER SWAMP TODAY

In 2000, for the first time, serious attention shifted to Yesler Swamp. In a series of Capstone Projects carried out by UW Restoration Ecology Network (U-REN), teams of students led by Kern Ewing and others began restoration of Yesler Swamp. The students dug out invasive blackberries and canary reed grass, planting willows and other native species to shade out the invaders, and mapped out a rough trail.




Students studied the history of restoration efforts in the natural area and the hydrology of the swamp, observing that the fluctuating lake water levels posed a challenge for constructing a permanent trail for access to the lagoon. They noted that when heavy rains fell, the trail was not navigable without rubber boots.

Taking into account the unusual hydrology of the area, in 2004 the students developed a detailed plan for a loop trail. The route forms the basis for the current loop trail design. Laura Davis, a member of the 2004 Capstone Team, later became a professional landscape designer and joined forces with Friends of Yesler Swamp to develop the current trail plan for Yesler Swamp.^[70]

In 2010, Friends of Yesler Swamp, assisted by a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Matching fund, retained SBA Landscape Associates to design an environmentally sensitive, all season trail and boardwalk to provide community access to Yesler Swamp. A professional design was prepared, and all environmental permits were obtained. The Department of Neighborhoods has promised additional funding to begin construction of the Yesler Swamp Trail.

Groups of environmental students at the UW continue to study the swamp and work towards its restoration. Friends of Yesler Swamp has partnered with U-REN students and hosts monthly work parties. Community members and students have devoted hundreds of hours to pulling ivy, chopping Himalayan blackberry, digging invasive grasses, and planting native species like willow and cedar.

(Photo by Carol Arnold)

At the same time, UW students and community groups like the Green Seattle Coalition are working to restore the headwaters of Yesler Creek.

Birders highly value Yesler Swamp for the variety of birds that inhabit the swamp. Over 100 species of birds have been spotted there, including Trumpeter swans and Barred Owl.

Friends of Yesler Swamp also sponsors popular children’s events to introduce kids to Yesler Swamp. Children have laughed with Swampy the Bear and learned the secrets of nature from experts in children's education.

Photo by Jean Colley

Aldo Leopold, the famous author and master of environmental ethics has written:

The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively: the land. . . . A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources,’ but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it.[71]

In its long history, Yesler Swamp has endured periods of use and abuse as a resource for the convenience of human beings. Today, the environmental community is working to change our relationship to this rare natural resource from that of “conqueror” to “citizens of this land-community.”