Post by Dave on Oct 27, 2007 19:51:06 GMT -8
Hello fellow birders,
My Dad, brother, and I went for a hike up Needle Peak today. We thought we would once again challenge the weather after the rather unique experience a few weeks ago. We trusted the visibility would be better this time around. Well, we had beautiful weather, and to my surprise, most of the 3-4 feet of snow was gone! Half the hike was walking on the bare ground, the other half of the time was walking through a few inches at the most.
The trail after the first hour of hiking...no need for a toque today!
The view looking back towards the trailhead down by the highway....for Brent, Thor, Gord, and others - this is the view you were missing the other week!!!!!!!
Needle Peak - Oct. 27
On to the birds. We started the hike with an American Dipper by the creek near the trailhead. I almost went swimming in it when crossing the creek after some interesting stunts on the ice-covered rocks. Only a hand got wet, so I was thankful for that.
In the thicker/taller forest at the base were Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Hairy Woodpecker. Once we made it up to the area where the trail started leveling out, we paused for a snack. We were surrounded by Pine Siskins.
They hung around us for the entire time in large flocks, and I put down a very conservative estimate of 175. No need to worry about them this year. While enjoying a snack, a calling Pine Grosbeak alerted us to him and his wife.
Excuse the poor focus, put at least you can check my ID skills
We continued to scan the Siskin flocks and were excited to find a Common Redpoll mixed in. Heading on, we soon bumped into 4 very cooperative Red Crossbill.
Up at the alpine area (about where we turned around in the blizzard), we flushed up a young? Dusky Grouse that just about took off my head.
We spent about 2.5 hours doing a fairly complete scan of the easily reachable areas looking for ptarmigan, but came up empty handed. Another trail user had two dogs running around ahead of us on the trail, which may have complicated things somewhat. I did my best to stay happy, even though the dogs put on quite a barking racket when they spotted 3 additional homosapiens on the trail. Unfortunately, the owner did nothing to quiet his dogs, while the dogs and I compromised with some close quarter ankle sniffing. Barking dogs + ptarmigan = ? Anyway, it is always nice to have something to blame no ptarmigan sightings on, so that gives some satisfaction.
To make up for it, the trip down gave views of a Northern Goshawk cruising by at eye level. Nice of him to do so.
We added Mountain Chickadee and Chestnut-backed Chickadee as well. Varied Thrush appeared once down near the trailhead.
Location: Needle Peak trail
Observation date: 10/27/07
Notes: Weather: Overcast for the first few hours, a mix of sun/cloud for the second half of the hike.
Number of species: 14
Dusky Grouse 1
Northern Goshawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Common Raven 2
Mountain Chickadee 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 7
American Dipper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
Varied Thrush 1
Pine Grosbeak 2
Red Crossbill 4
Common Redpoll 1
Pine Siskin 175
Of interest: No Juncos - an abundant bird on the past 2 hikes.
Dave
My Dad, brother, and I went for a hike up Needle Peak today. We thought we would once again challenge the weather after the rather unique experience a few weeks ago. We trusted the visibility would be better this time around. Well, we had beautiful weather, and to my surprise, most of the 3-4 feet of snow was gone! Half the hike was walking on the bare ground, the other half of the time was walking through a few inches at the most.
The trail after the first hour of hiking...no need for a toque today!
The view looking back towards the trailhead down by the highway....for Brent, Thor, Gord, and others - this is the view you were missing the other week!!!!!!!
Needle Peak - Oct. 27
On to the birds. We started the hike with an American Dipper by the creek near the trailhead. I almost went swimming in it when crossing the creek after some interesting stunts on the ice-covered rocks. Only a hand got wet, so I was thankful for that.
In the thicker/taller forest at the base were Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Hairy Woodpecker. Once we made it up to the area where the trail started leveling out, we paused for a snack. We were surrounded by Pine Siskins.
They hung around us for the entire time in large flocks, and I put down a very conservative estimate of 175. No need to worry about them this year. While enjoying a snack, a calling Pine Grosbeak alerted us to him and his wife.
Excuse the poor focus, put at least you can check my ID skills
We continued to scan the Siskin flocks and were excited to find a Common Redpoll mixed in. Heading on, we soon bumped into 4 very cooperative Red Crossbill.
Up at the alpine area (about where we turned around in the blizzard), we flushed up a young? Dusky Grouse that just about took off my head.
We spent about 2.5 hours doing a fairly complete scan of the easily reachable areas looking for ptarmigan, but came up empty handed. Another trail user had two dogs running around ahead of us on the trail, which may have complicated things somewhat. I did my best to stay happy, even though the dogs put on quite a barking racket when they spotted 3 additional homosapiens on the trail. Unfortunately, the owner did nothing to quiet his dogs, while the dogs and I compromised with some close quarter ankle sniffing. Barking dogs + ptarmigan = ? Anyway, it is always nice to have something to blame no ptarmigan sightings on, so that gives some satisfaction.
To make up for it, the trip down gave views of a Northern Goshawk cruising by at eye level. Nice of him to do so.
We added Mountain Chickadee and Chestnut-backed Chickadee as well. Varied Thrush appeared once down near the trailhead.
Location: Needle Peak trail
Observation date: 10/27/07
Notes: Weather: Overcast for the first few hours, a mix of sun/cloud for the second half of the hike.
Number of species: 14
Dusky Grouse 1
Northern Goshawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Common Raven 2
Mountain Chickadee 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 7
American Dipper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
Varied Thrush 1
Pine Grosbeak 2
Red Crossbill 4
Common Redpoll 1
Pine Siskin 175
Of interest: No Juncos - an abundant bird on the past 2 hikes.
Dave
Meanwhile, the birdfeeders remain desolate.....and empty......I know, I know, I have to make time. Have a good Sunday y'all.
