Mercer Slough

ANOTHER incredible field trip! This time we headed down to Bellevue and had the opportunity to go on a hike to learn more about the Mercer Slough. The slough was created when the Chittendon Locks were built changing the amount of water coming in from Lake Washington, leaving a swampy wetland behind. This wetland is filled with creatures such as bats, owls, bunnies, coyotes and tons of bug and aquatic life. The kids were able to see a bat box that was not very well used as some genius decided to put it in the same neighborhood as the owls, um, hullo, predators...bad neighborhood, duh. That was during the hike portion of our trip, we then went down and collected samples of water from the slough, took them up to the lab and put them under a microscope to see all kinds of amazing creatures! This was a really fun trip as none of my family has ever been down to the slough before! I do plan to head back there someday though, it is well worth the drive.