[Tweeters] Great Birding at Lake Kathleen - house for sale

[N D]

Hi folks, last chance for an appropriately priced house for the area. If
you are in Seattle and want to move out to a rural area but not too far
from a town, this is a great area, and beautiful.

So my immediate NEIGHBOR here at Lake Kathleen is just about to put his
house up for sale (on father's day). The address is 13445 191st Ave SE.
98059. I think it will sell for about 800K. It is a very well-built and
well-kept,house. No fixer upper for you!

https://www.zillow.com/homes/-13445-191st-Ave-SE.-98059._rb/48893554_zpid/

The birds here are great! We get evening grosbeaks every spring at our
feeders. (I have been here, feeding birds since 2006.)
Wouldn't it be great to have two birders living side by side, collaborating
on their yards plus on the lake acreage that we co-own too, to make it
better for birds?

Erik's house for sale is a 4 bedroom, 3 ba, with a large family room. It
looks down over the yard and lake, (we are on a small hill above the lake
so no water issues up here) with good views into trees etc. Peekaboo views
of the lake can be made a little larger too without removing trees. My
house was built in 1968. Next door is younger and far nicer with a TREX
deck (that's not T-Rex like the dinosaur but TREX like a type of material),
which they just painted (it looks really nice). The house and yard are
looking good and he's had a lot of work done on it in the past year to
bring it up to a good standard for a new sale.  I mean, they have had folks
in vans coming and going for the past 12 months and are doing the final
things before sale. They are officially selling it on June 18th afaict. We
both have access to the lake road at the bottom of the yard through gates,
and Erik made a footpath and built a little bridge so we don't have to jump
to cross the gully to get to walk around the lake.

Our houses are fairly close but we have several trees/bushes planted to
maintain privacy between the two houses - so not too close.  I am currently
working on removing my lawn and replacing it with bushes conducive to
birds. This is a slow process for me. I am planning on a british garden -
packed with shrubberries! Erik's yard has a number of mature Rainier cherry
trees. I have a lot of shrubs and trees which were planted for hummingbirds
and songbirds. I just put in my flowering redcurrant and a white lilac.
Erik's yard is a good blank slate for more shrubs if you like gardening.
Lots of room for chickens and things like that too.  Also we are in
unincorporated king county if that means anything to you - no sewage bill -
cheaper taxes. I think my property tax is about $250 a month. The area gets
the odd bear and cougar passing through. We have our own family of coyotes,
and several bobcats and owl species. And of course we have our own eagle
tree with its own pair who produce 1-2 eaglets every year.

 Birding spots in the areas include Soos Creek down the road in Kent, and
Lake Sammamish state park as well as the many hiking trails on Squak and
Cougar. Marymoor is only a 30 min drive which has a weekly birdwalk, and
LSSP has a monthly birdwalk. Squak is so close you could walk or bike to
the hiking trail. Lake Kathleen has a trail that goes right around the lake
which many people use for fitness or walking the dog. It's about 1.7 miles
round trip - maybe 40 mins.

The nearest shops are East Renton Highlands if you're in a hurry or going
to I405 but Issaquah is 7 miles via SR-900(sunset) so I usually go to get
my goods and services there, and "Keppler's farm and feed" is very close
by, and sells the Audubon no mess mix cheaper than the other bird stores as
well as other birding goods.

The Lake Kathleen hotspot is currently at 122 species (my yard count is
pretty high too) but these are only my paltry efforts.
An old birder whom moved away told me we once had dippers in our lake
outlet, and kestrels in our horse meadows before they built more houses.
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L4980186

A lovely feature apart from the lake and marshy areas, and proximity to
Squak mountain, are the acres of undeveloped land owned by my neighbors. I
have befriended many of them, and several of them allow me (and an "other")
free rein to bird these wilder areas - approximately 30 acres, which
certainly have more variety. I am always looking to increase the variety at
the lake and would really welcome having a neighbor who could collaborate
on an effort to help put up Martin gourds and wood duck boxes for which I
already have permission to do. The Lake Kathlena estates (of which my block
belongs) jointly co own the park down by the lake, and the hidden baseball
field (where I find Hammonds flycatchers and Dusky too). Spring also brings
Nashville and Macgillivrays Warblers too.

Last but not least, who can forget I had WA state's 11th Hooded Oriole turn
up at my hummingbird feeder for several days about 4-5 years ago.  Daily,
folks walk the route around the lake which involves several habitats
including the wooded area to the south.  I usually slope off and go into my
neighbor's acreage from the trail which is like having a park all to myself
without anyone around. It's wonderful. I can set up cameras for a whole day
and a blind and watch for coyote pups, owlets and cougars or bears or I can
bird from a temporary blind.

We all also have lakefront access for fishing btw too via the small park
filled with willow bushes which the warblers seem to love. Non-motorised
boats only but I think electric motors are ok.
We can kayak and check on all the nests from the lake which isn't too big.
Every spring we get the odd Common Loon on the lake. Sometimes they even
call. The first time I heard one in real life, I was in shock for a day! It
was mesmerizing. Spring brings oddities. If you walk the lake daily in the
morning you will sometimes find something new - like a Ruddy duck or a
Common Goldeneye. Nothing too rare usually but I think a second pair of
eyes would really help find more rarities.

If you're super interested in buying the house, do get in touch with any
questions you have about the area. We are in Issaquah School district btw.

Anyway, if folks haven't messaged me already about this house sale, and are
interested in who the realtor is, just lmk. I will send more info soon to
those who emailed me already.

Nadine D
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