[Tweeters] 116th/Snohomish PUD area question

[Emily Birchman via Tweeters]

Hi Tweeters,

for a little context, I have been trying to see a northern pygmy owl for
years now and it has become my most difficult nemesis bird to date. I've
made so many attempts to find one that I have lost count over the years!
And I've had a few near-misses, including hearing them calling at Rasar
State Park, which a kind birder on this listserve recommended as a good
place. But I never saw one and I personally don't count lifers until I see
them.
I've been using Ebird to track local-ish sightings and trying to follow up
whenever I can. Recently I noticed some sightings on 116th in Sultan, an
area some people call "Snohomish area PUD land" or something similar, on
ebird.

Anyway, I went for the first time on Friday and explored the gravel pit
area as someone had reported hearing pygmy owls there a couple days prior,
and another person had posted seeing 2 off of 116th 4 days earlier.  I saw
a northern harrier, a turkey vulture, and lots of towhees, but didn't hear
or see any pygmy owls.

Then, of course (story of my nemesis bird search), someone posted a
checklist from about 45 minutes after I'd left on Friday,  in the same
general area, saying they saw one!
That checklist  indicated it was seen on 116th at the gravel pull out "near
the dam." So I went back yesterday to try to find that area, and was
unsuccessful. This time, I drove down 116th past the gravel pit area and I
parked just before the gate by the Henry Jackson power house, (gate was
closed) and walked toward the power house. I ended up walking on a
dirt-packed road to the right of the power house that was very wide, toward
what I thought was the dam area based on the map/registration kiosk near
the brown building there but didn't have time to explore more than 30-40
min in one direction and I never reached a dam. It was very quiet and I
didn't hear many birds, much less pygmy owls, calling.

Anyway here's my question, which I feel kind of silly asking as I'm
guessing the answer is obvious and I just missed it - can someone help me
understand where exactly the dam is off 116th? My husband was trying to
help me find it on google maps last night and what we found was a dam at
Spada Lake, but that seems really far and not exactly on 116th like the
checklist indicated. I'm wondering if I should have gone straight down the
road to the left of the registration kiosk instead of to the right.

If there are other places off 116th that are good to search I'd love to
hear any tips.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

sincerely,
Emily Birchman
Kenmore, WA
stollea at gmail.com
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