It was such a beautiful, but cold, day and we just couldn't stay inside so I went to the Ol' Google Maps and looked for someplace new to go to. I wanted to look around the Bellevue area . . . it's still all new for us and it has lots of possibilities.
Fun Facts: My Little Chickadee (1940) was a comedy starring Mae West and W.C. Fields. West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar.
Universal decided to give the stars equal billing, to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but this really upset West, who wouldn't make any more pictures with Fields after this one.
My Little Chickadee was the most successful film of 1940 after Gone With the Wind, despite getting mediocre reviews from critics. It grossed around $20 million in the U.S., an outstanding amount at that time. Remember, this was the year that featured the release of such great films as, Pinnochio, The Great Dictator, The Grapes of Wrath, My Favorite Wife, The Philadelphia Story and that perennial blockbuster, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante.
My Little Chickadee was a catchphrase most associated with W.C. Fields. He first used it during a scene in If I had a Million (1932) to address co-star Alison Skipworth.
Fun Facts: My Little Chickadee (1940) was a comedy starring Mae West and W.C. Fields. West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar.
Universal decided to give the stars equal billing, to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but this really upset West, who wouldn't make any more pictures with Fields after this one.
My Little Chickadee was the most successful film of 1940 after Gone With the Wind, despite getting mediocre reviews from critics. It grossed around $20 million in the U.S., an outstanding amount at that time. Remember, this was the year that featured the release of such great films as, Pinnochio, The Great Dictator, The Grapes of Wrath, My Favorite Wife, The Philadelphia Story and that perennial blockbuster, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante.
My Little Chickadee was a catchphrase most associated with W.C. Fields. He first used it during a scene in If I had a Million (1932) to address co-star Alison Skipworth.
And so, we were off!!
Driving up Rainier Avenue towards the I-90 and then up the 405 to the 520 and we were there!!
You see, I found a park to go to. There are a number of them around the area and I found one that looked interesting, The Yarrow Bays Wetlands . . . at least on the Google Map site it did.
The waterfront area encompassing Evergreen Point, Hunts Point and Yarrow Point on Lake Washington contains some of the most expensive estates in all of the Puget Sound Area. In the midst of this luxury and grandeur lies a Kirkland Park with 73.33 acres. It's called Yarrow Bay Wetlands and lies between Yarrow Point and the Lake view neighborhoods. Mostly it is just what it is named . . . a wetlands.
The best view, according to Seattle Times writer Peyton Whitely, is from the water side, paddling a kayak or canoe. There is a channel from the Lake Washington side where you can explore the wetlands for hundreds of feet. Most likely you will be the only person there, unless you bring a friend or two along.
We, however, explored it from the land side on this chilly December day. Access is very limited. We actually drove by it twice before finding the parking lot and the trail. From Lake Washington Boulevard in Kirkland, you head west on Northeast Points Drive. The confusing thing is that you have to turn right onto the 101st Way NE. All that is there is a large sign proclaiming this to be "The Point", a condominium development. Immediately to the left of the entrance to the housing area is a small parking lot. The mailboxes for "The Point" are along one side. We parked in front of a sign declaring this to be private property. An Interpretive Sign for a nature trail is the only sign that there is, indeed, a public trail here.
To get to it you have to walk into the neighborhood, past two very obvious signs stating the limits of private property with warnings of "do not enter". Wow!! Talk about feeling all warm and fuzzy about the welcome.
You can also feel the warmth as the Interpretive sign has an ALL-CAPS and ITALICIZED part that clearly and emphatically states you must "STAY ON PATH".
Who loves ya, Baby!?!
Not them. Clearly, not them.
It's a small path and it takes about ten minutes to walk the whole thing and, unfortunately, there really isn't too much to see. You get a view of some of the trees and the reeds and grasses growing in the wetlands but you can't see too much from the path.
And there's a nice wooden fence running all along the path to ensure you stay on the side you're supposed to be on. And I'm going to continue to believe they didn't plant all those thorny vines along the fence to keep out any unwanted intruders. They just sorta strategically grew along that fence.
But there was one bright spot.
Almost dead center of the walk one of the residents put out 4 bird feeders. Once we'd stopped walking and they got accustomed to our presence, they began coming back.
First were the Chickadees.
These guys are brassy little suckers and one of my favorites. Unfortunately, they land, stay just for a second to grab something to eat and, zoom off they go. Tough to get a picture of them.
We saw some Spotted Towhees and a hummingbird, too. I didn't get a picture of them though.
Ratz.
But I got this guy. Several times.
It's a Purple Finch.
Then the guy that put up the bird feeders came out and got into an animated conversation with Carol. Seems just a couple days ago the Audubon Society came into the wetlands to count the birds for the 115th Christmas Bird Count. They saw a Virginia Rail just before it ducked into the brush.
Wanting to confirm their sighting, they pulled out their Smart Phone and plugged in an app that plays the calls of various birds. They picked out the call of a Virginia Rail and played it until the bird came out to see who was calling him.
BAM!! Confirmed!!
A Virginia Rail.
Kinda looks like a Roadrunner don't it.
Photo curtesy of South Dakota Birds and Birding.
Hahaha, Bird-Watchers are such wacky and fun people!!
We watched the Chickadees for a while, and there were plenty of those, when the man came back out and pointed out this woodpecker to us.
Wow!! It was a Downy Woodpecker!! This is the female. The male came by just for a second. We could tell he was the dude because he had a bright red shock of hair on his head.
Guys, always showing off.
So I got a lot of pictures of the ones that would sit still long enough and I got plenty of them. That click, click, click, click, click, click, clickity thing.
Love it!!
Smile!!
Say Cheese!!
Here's the fence with the thorny bushes.
Welcome to our park!!
When are you leaving?
Don't touch!!
Still, we had a good time. And it was cold!! We were in the shade for most of the time on the trail and, y'know, that really makes a difference. I was glad we both bundled up.
Hahahaha, you can see Carol had a good time!!
Celebrate!!
We finally retreated to the Mini for some warmth and then, because we'd planned on eating our lunch at the park and you could see that wasn't going to happen here in Friendlyville, we decided to head on over to our park for some lunch.
When we got there, we saw, to the west, two eagles flying together, swooping and swirling and soaring. I'm not sure and I don't know if this is the time they usually do it, but it sure looked like they were doing a mating dance.
It was wild the way they were mixing and maneuvering together. Then, out of the blue, another eagle appeared in the sky. He didn't so much join them as much as just sailed with them just for a moment and then he flew away heading for the Eagle Tree.
He didn't land in the Eagle Tree, though. But while he was flying away towards the northeast, the other two, still flying together, headed off towards the southwest.
Finally, the one, he landed in a tall fir tree along Rainier.
Just after we got there this guy came in for a landing.
(Imagine this sung in a high, falsetto voice . . .)
Hah!! Nailed it!!
And, just because I could, I grabbed this quick shot of the waxing moon. It will be full on the 5th of January and, if the skies are clear, I'm gonna try and get a shot of the whole thing.
Cuz I can.
And, bragging, this was a handheld shot and the zoom still could have gotten me closer.
POW!!
Trivia Question: What TV Character is called 'Moon Pie' by his Memaw?
We had our lunch and pretty much that was it.
It were cold!!
Our fingers were numb and my Diet Coke was colder now than it was when I got it out of the cooler at the store!!
Brrrrrrr . . .
So we got in the warm and cozy mini and headed up Rainier looking for the eagle.
And Carol spotted him.
Believe me, I got more shots of the eagle than you can shake a fist at but, because I like you, I only chose three to show here.
You're welcome.
We waited around hoping that a: the other eagles would come back for some more aerial flirting or, b: this one would take off.
Hahahaha, he was better equipped to deal with the cold than we were. I wussed out after just a couple of minutes and so we left.
Ciao, Bambini!! Fino alla prossima volta.
What a good day. The wetlands was mostly a bust but, still, we got to see some birds and a new area. And we had a great lunch, tuna sandwiches and fudge-striped shortbread cookies for dessert.
Mmmmmmm . . .
What a treat it was to see those eagles dancing in the air. And then to see one in the tree again. How fortunate can you get, eh?
So as we wrap up this old year, we continue to enjoy our adventures.
Tomorrow it's off to The Emerald City to celebrate the last day of 2014.
And, the answer to the Trivia Question - It's Sheldon Cooper from the TV Show, The Big Bang Theory.
Life is good!!
Hooah!!
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