Post by Dave on Sept 4, 2007 11:33:44 GMT -8
A fellow teacher and I hiked to Needle Peak yesterday. I was conscious not do too much birding as he was not a birder at all. Notice I wrote "was". It is amazing what the unpredicatable little avian friends can do to a guy in one day!
Needle Peak trailhead starts right next to Hwy 5, about 10 kms south of the toll booth. The trail goes pretty much straight up through thicker forest for the first hour or so, then levels off in
superb sub-alpine habitat, which becomes pure alpine as you near the top. We made it to the peak after about 2.5hours, including several stops for birds. Having extra time, we hiked from Needle Peak to a nearby plateau of granite/glaciated rock, spent a few hours there, and then headed back to the car by Hwy 5.
The birding potential of the hike is excellent - I list just a small sample of what was seen in passing and occasional breaks (where the birds were noisy enough). I am convinced that a "serious bird hike" would produce a much larger list of birds!
Some of the excellent "migration stop over" habitat!
Needle Peak viewed from trail
Beautiful glacier feed lake in the valley between the mounts
As to be expected, some fur as well as feather was encountered this time of year
Patience pays off.
White-tailed Ptarmigan - we saw 3 males, 1 female, and 5 chicks.
Are these ptarmigan eggs? We were not sure...looked like a successful hatch regardless.
Location: Needle Peak trail
Observation date: 9/3/07
Notes: Weather: Overcast, mild, limited wind
Number of species: 21
White-tailed Ptarmigan 9
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Black Swift 3
Northern Flicker 1
Common Raven 1
Mountain Chickadee 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Townsend's Solitaire 1
Varied Thrush 2
American Pipit 8
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 40
Townsend's Warbler 11
Western Tanager 6
White-crowned Sparrow 15
Dark-eyed Junco 45
Pine Siskin 120
Needle Peak trailhead starts right next to Hwy 5, about 10 kms south of the toll booth. The trail goes pretty much straight up through thicker forest for the first hour or so, then levels off in
superb sub-alpine habitat, which becomes pure alpine as you near the top. We made it to the peak after about 2.5hours, including several stops for birds. Having extra time, we hiked from Needle Peak to a nearby plateau of granite/glaciated rock, spent a few hours there, and then headed back to the car by Hwy 5.
The birding potential of the hike is excellent - I list just a small sample of what was seen in passing and occasional breaks (where the birds were noisy enough). I am convinced that a "serious bird hike" would produce a much larger list of birds!
Some of the excellent "migration stop over" habitat!
Needle Peak viewed from trail
Beautiful glacier feed lake in the valley between the mounts
As to be expected, some fur as well as feather was encountered this time of year
Patience pays off.
White-tailed Ptarmigan - we saw 3 males, 1 female, and 5 chicks.
Are these ptarmigan eggs? We were not sure...looked like a successful hatch regardless.
Location: Needle Peak trail
Observation date: 9/3/07
Notes: Weather: Overcast, mild, limited wind
Number of species: 21
White-tailed Ptarmigan 9
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Black Swift 3
Northern Flicker 1
Common Raven 1
Mountain Chickadee 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Townsend's Solitaire 1
Varied Thrush 2
American Pipit 8
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 40
Townsend's Warbler 11
Western Tanager 6
White-crowned Sparrow 15
Dark-eyed Junco 45
Pine Siskin 120
