Brewer's Sparrow at Stillwater Unit (near Carnation, WA)

DIRECTIONS: Go to Carnation, WA and head north on SR-203, also known as the Carnation-Duvall Road NE. In about 4 miles, on the left, you'll come to the first (southernmost) of two parking lots along this road for the Stillwater Unit. Park in this lot. You'll need a Discover Pass. The parking lot is immediately next to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, which runs along the eastern border of the Stillwater Unit. Walk north on this trail for 150 yards or so until you come to a post on the left (shown in a picture below) that marks a track out to the Stillwater Unit fields to the west. Follow this track, which will curve left in a bit and then curve right out to the fields. The fields at present are covered in a mixture of dead corn stalks, horsetail, grass and a scattered shrubs with yellow flowers on their tops.

As you walk west along the track (after the second curve mentioned above), look for the Brewer's Sparrow in the shrubbery and low trees on your left. This is indicated by the B oval on the map. We saw the Brewer's Sparrow here a little after noon. It moved back and forth across the track from the grass on the right to the shrubs and trees on the left. As you continue west, you'll come to an intersection with another track. Look ahead and slightly to your right and you can see an island of very young, short cottonwood trees and blackberries. This is marked on the map by the A oval. We first saw the Brewer's Sparrow here, about 10:30am. Other sparrows present included Lincoln's, White-crowned, Golden-crowned and Song.

Map of Stillwater Unit
Follow the red path from parking lot to the fields with the A and B ovals, marking the two places where we saw the Brewer's Sparrow on May 3, 2017.


As you walk north on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail from the southernmost Stillwater parking lot,
this post marks the point where you should turn left onto a track to reach the fields to the west
with the Brewer's Sparrow.

Picture of the island of blackberries and young cottonwood trees
This is the island of blackberries and young cottonwood trees. Note that the tall trees in the center of the picture are
well behind the island and not part of it.


Brewer's Sparrow in the brambles of the island.

Picture of Brewer's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow at A oval

Picture of Brewer's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow at A oval.

Picture of Brewer's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow at B Oval