A Great Day Despite No Birds
Today Ken Brown and I headed to try a new hike out of Greenwater, WA to Noble Knob. A week ago a Seattle Audubon Society field trip did this hike and had a really great assortment of raptors migrating. Today Ken and I had a great hike, saw new perspectives on Mt. Rainier and a whole new area, the weather was perfect, and almost no raptors were flying. Today was a perfect example of how a frustrating day birding can still be a great day outdoors.
Several alpine lakes were seen from our outpost near Noble Knob. The breeding Barrow's Goldeneyes that were there a week ago have left for lower elevation winter spots.
The drive to the hike starts on FR 70 just past the fire station on Hwy 410 past Greenwater. About 7 miles up FR 70 we took FR 7200 for about 6 miles, then FR 7250 to the trail head. The only tricky part is near the end of FR 7250 when you go straight through a 4-way dirt road intersection, and the trail head is just a bit past that point.
After returning from Maine, and spectacular fall color in the deciduous trees there, it was fun to see just the few Cottonwood Trees giving tiny yellow splashes of color in the coniferous forests today.
The trail goes through a large burn area that appears pretty old, and we had no identified woodpeckers, which we always look for in burns as they love the dead and dying trees. From there after about 2 miles of gently sloping up and down hiking, the trail becomes fairly steep, and we climbed for about another mile, circling around Noble Knob before approaching from the back (northeast) side. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there enjoying vistas, sunshine, and lunch, but finding a total of 4 raptors, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, one each Bald Eagle and Sharp-shinned Hawks. All were very distant and no acceptable photos were to be had.
Common Ravens were one of the few species that gave a good enough fly-by for photos from Noble Knob today.
This Red-breasted Nuthatch was seen early in the hike today.
So we enjoyed the exercise, the scenery, and a nice day together.
Good birding. Steem on! Be sure to follow @birdersofsteem and use #birding so birders will find your content and can support you with up-votes and community.