Ilal Mountain, August 10

[kestrel]

Went up Ilal Mountain, on Saturday, with a (non-birder) friend. It's only a stone's throw from the Coquihalla Summit, yet just inside the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District. This was both his and my first time on this hike, and it didn't disappoint. The first few kilometers of the trail are somewhat overgrown, but then it opens up nicely after that.

Not long after starting out, we found a small family of Spruce Grouse. Wilson's Warbler, along with Chestnut-backed and Mountain Chickadees, were also seen.

During lunch, at the summit, I just happened to look up and see something moving through the heather, just below us. A quick look through the bins confirmed my hopes; White-tailed Ptarmigan!

After a couple minutes of searching, I followed some chicken-like sounds, and found the bird:
White-tailed Ptarmigan by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

She also had a half-grown young one with her:
White-tailed Ptarmigans by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

Seems like it was quite stormy in the mountains, that day, as we drove through a wicked thunderstorm shortly after leaving the parking lot.

[Gord]

Nice work on the ptarmigan find and missing the storms! That's no fun getting caught in that up in the mountains. I have!

How is the hike, say, compared to Needle/Flatiron?

[kestrel]

Yeah. The rain was so intense, at the Coq Summit, that the highway had standing water on the downhill side!

Compared to Needle/Flatiron, it’s definitely gentler, and much less popular. The only steep part of Ilal was the last stretch before the summit.

I think this might be a good option for a forum group hike, like we did in 2017.