Bellevue is located less than one hour from the Cascade Mountains, Puget Sound, and too many lakes and rivers to count; the perfect perch when you’re ready to grab your binoculars to go find birds. The outdoor options are endless, from observing shorebirds in Mercer Slough to seeking North America’s smallest avian species, the calliope hummingbird, in Mt. Rainier National Park. With over 400 bird species recorded in Western Washington, any day of the year is perfect to bird the surrounding woods, shorelines and mountains.
Looking for places to go birdwatching from Bellevue? Start at Mercer Slough Nature Park, then follow this guide to nearby wetlands and lakes or plan a longer trip to western Washington’s shorelines, mountains and wildlife refuges. Each stop offers a different habitat and a new set of birds to look for.
Birdwatching in Bellevue and Nearby Parks: Close to the Nest
Mercer Slough Nature Park
Mercer Slough is a rare environmental gem, a diverse 320-acre habitat located within minutes from downtown Bellevue. The habitats include wetlands, streams and meadows. The environmental center’s deck offers a great vantage point to search for warblers and swallows, while great blue heron and the rarer green heron fish along the slough. Numerous species also pause here to refuel during fall and spring migrations.
Marymoor Park
Marymoor Park is a near-perfect public park where visitors can spot as many as 50 bird species most mornings, kick a ball around in the afternoon and see A-list entertainers come evening. Bird-wise, you can reliably see osprey and bald eagles, red-breasted sapsuckers and other woodpeckers. Keep your ears open for red-eyed vireos, the most frequent singer in the bird world. The 640-acre park provides a green bullseye for migrants like western tanagers, black-throated grey warblers, and specialty species including western grebes and northern shrikes.
Lake Sammamish State Park
More mixed hardwood forests and waterfront trails await across 512 acres in Lake Sammamish State Park. Take an enticing stroll through the woods in search of orioles, warblers and thrushes, among other songbirds, then head to the lake to look for common loons, horned grebes and other migrants.
Wetland and Waterfront Birding Near Bellevue: A Short Flight
Juanita Bay Park
More than any other habitat, wetlands bring out our inner sleuth in the slough. How else can we detect Virginia rails, Wilson’s snipes and other hard-to-see reed dwellers? Like the best detective work, catching these species in one’s sights is a bonus to any stakeout. The hideout challenges continue in plain sight, specifically IDing western and least sandpipers in their winter camouflage, among more obvious subjects like long-billed dowitchers.
Snoqualmie Valley Trail
They say you never forget your first American Bittern, those crypto-plumaged herons that imitate a stack of rushes and reeds, especially when the foliage browns in autumn. The ponds here offer a great chance to check off bitterns, but you can also catch bald eagles, Cooper’s and red-tailed hawks on the hunt.
Cedar River Natural Area
Are you ready to set your sights on and identify gulls? The often ignored “it’s just a gull” Laridae family sets the spotting scopes apart from the tripods, especially in winter when things get really confusing. Niskiwaki Lane leads to reliable big gull spotting on Lake Washington. Toss in an occasional Slaty-backed and glaucous ID to secure your bragging rights. You’ll never say “just a gull” again.
Western Washington Birding Day Trips: Further A Flap
Green River Natural Area
The greater Bellevue area is fortunate to have several bodies of water ideal for working on those waterfowl IDs. The Kent Ponds in Green River Natural Area fills reliably with several of our most vibrant dabblers, including hooded mergansers, wood ducks and ruddy ducks. Northern shovelers and northern pintails add yet more spectacle to the duck parade.
Soos Creek Park
The 720-acre Soos Creek Park is a “don’t-miss” destination that is, nonetheless, often overlooked. The mixed riparian woods offer ideal migration habitat for several Empidonax flycatchers (western, willow, dusky), thrushes and warbler species. Keep an eye out for western wood-pewees too. The conifers serve as reliable territory for downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers.
Dash Point State Park
The blend of deciduous and conifer forests and fresh and saltwater habitats is one of many reasons the Puget Sound area is among the best birding destinations in North America. At Dash Point State Park, you can wander the woods checking off Wilson’s, orange-crowned and other warblers, then set your scope on common loons, grebes and surf and white-winged scoters.
Union Bay Natural Area
Located in the shadow of the University of Washington, the Union Bay Natural Area trails transect marshes where you’ll find American bitterns, cottonwood trees with nesting Cooper’s hawks and the Lake Washington shoreline teeming with gulls, terns and waterfowl. Tack on a trip to nearby Magnuson Park to search for more passerines, as well as California quail and resident barn owls.
Mountain and Wildlife Refuge Birding: A Decent Migration
Mt. Rainier National Park, Sunrise
Mt. Rainier is closer than you think. The meadows here host a variety of high-elevation specialists like white-tailed ptarmigan, mountain bluebirds and several “winter” finches, including crossbills. Mt. Rainier is the place to check off rough-legged hawks, golden eagles and prairie falcons, too. It’s another avian world up here!
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Barn and great-horned owls have nested at Nisqually for generations. Cinnamon, blue-winged and green-winged teal are but a sample of the dabbling ducks that forage in the ponds. Northern harriers scan the fields and accipiters dash through the woods beside the Nisqually River. American kestrel and northern shrikes patrol the fence lines. Located directly off I-5, Nisqually’s 250+ species list always deserves a stop.
Skagit Wildlife Area
Starting in late fall, “The Skagit” offers reliable sightings of trumpeter and tundra swans and thousands upon thousands of snow geese. The Samish River flats are home to diurnal short-eared owls that bounce along all day on the prowl for small rodents. Speaking of hunting, stay alert for peregrine falcons that can stoop at over 200 mph through the shorebird flocks, a spectacular display. The dazzling number of bald eagle sightings might make you dizzy, too.