Father's Day in Chelan County - Part one (June 19th)

Father's Day Plans

A Happy Wish from my daughter

With all of the time in Chelan birding this year, I wanted some of that time to be with the fam, so Father's Day was loosely planned around a trip in that direction.  We knew there would be a trip to Camas Meadows, which I had never visited during hours of daylight, but beyond that... Wenatchee?  Leavenworth?   We brought two cars so that at the end of the trip, I could stay for an extra day of birding.  A day??   So close to the solstice, it would almost feel like two days of birding!

Camas Meadows Preserve

Declan and I reached Camas Meadows, having taken a different route than Maura and Bre as we left Renton and made our way to I-90.  Unfortunately, a turn was missed, and it was an extra hour or so at the parking lot for Camas Meadows before the girls arrived.  Declan and I strolled around the roads near the parking lot - whistling for Northern Pygmy Owl, and finding some warblers, flycatchers and sparrows while we waited. 

Declan has been with me on a handful of birding trips and he's picked up a good bit of knowledge, if not a deep interest in all of it.  More than anything, the kids make sure to know enough of what's going on to poke fun at me, and that is perfect.  For the longest time, Declan and I had been working on something that would have been a lot like Pokemon Go, I swear, except it would have involved bird-watching.  Find a bird, add it to your deck.  Find it somewhere else, level it up.  Level up your Osprey enough and it can learn Plunge Dive.  We would always negotiate the rules as we walked, and come up with some fun game design ideas. 

The girls finally arrived, and we started our walk.  

Camas meadows is an interesting area -there are a fair number of endemic plant species that are protected in this preserve, and we arrrived when a handful of them were in bloom.  We took a short trail out into the meadows, and... well, it seemed like we had lost the trail.  "Let's go ask them!"  We decided, spying a group of people walking a few hundred feet away in the meadow.  We couldn't exactly find the trail leading to them, so we made our way as best we could.

Oops... we found as we arrived at the group, that this was an organized native plants walk... and that we were NOT supposed to be out in the meadows.  We quite sheepishly asked for the lowest-impact way back to the road, and started back.  They weren't really worried about us being there, per se, but I know that limiting access is part of what makes this area work. 

Following a path of sorts

We enjoyed the natural beauty of the place during the walk, although there were no new year birds for the county (Orange-crowned warbler, Northern Pygmy-Owl, and Willow Flycatcher were among the ones I had hoped for), there was a lot to see and hear:  Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Western Wood-Pewe, Cassin's and Warbling Vireo, Tree and Violet-green Swallows, Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Western Bluebirds (seen well by the kids, which made me happy!), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Nashville, MacGillivray's and Yellow Warblers, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Cassin's Finch, Pine Siskin and American Goldfinches.  The habitat is broken up between meadows and forest, which led to a lot of diversity in a small area.

Leavenworth

Not a bad view for lunch!

We hadn't really been to Leavenworth as a family, and we were looking for a nice place to go for lunch, so we drove up to Highway 2, took a left and drove up to Ye Olde Leavenworthe.  We had fun reading nearly every sign in a heavily affected Bavarian accent, but the frivolity was out the window as soon as we realized what we were up against for parking.  When this town is busy, nearly every spot in town seems to be occupied!  We finally parked almost a half-mile out from where we had planned to go for lunch, but on such a lovely day... who could care?

We looked over the menu at Visconti's and decided we would all be able to find something worthwhile. The pizzas looked pretty good, and would suit Bre as well.  Bre Pizza is something that some restaurants can really nail - a plain crust and parmesan cheese.   I know... it sounds simple, but when the crust is thin to the point where it is almost like a cracker in places, and the parmesan is the Good Stuff, it takes my plain-eating wife and daughter to a very happy place.  Visconti's was able to do that quite well.  I got a pizza with some cured meats that were made locally at Cure, and it made for an amazing late afternoon meal.

Blackbird Island

After eating, we decided to make one more walk - Blackbird Island!  This is a very birdy spot that I had simply never been to, much like Camas Meadows.  On a sunny day, there was plenty of shade to make the walk easy to boot.  It was SO fun to see so many other dads out enjoying the day with their families, as we wended our way through slightly varied habitat, although all in all it was riparian, this island being right in the middle of the Wenatchee River.  Gulls on the river, warblers and vireos in the trees, and families of mallards on the little ponds in the middle.  It was a beautiful spot, and I'm sure would be even more amazing earlier in the year, and earlier in the day.

After dinner, we took a lazy walk through town, tasting some wine, looking at the arts and crafts out on display, and finally getting some gelato (blood orange... yum.)    As we finished up, it was getting on towards 2 and we decided it was time to part ways, as Bre needed to get home and work the next day, and I had a stop or two I wanted to make before the day was done. 

Stand-up paddler on Lake Wenatchee

Fish Lake

Uhhh...wait..slow down

I should preface my visit to Fish Lake by explaining that there is a marsh in the corner of the lake that is 1) excellent habitat for some birds that can honestly be quite difficult to find in the county and 2) quite impossible to view unless approached by boat.  Fact number three is that there are pontoon boats that are rented out strictly to fishermen... well almost strictly. 

If I'm lacking in any other skills as a birder, I make up for some of them by being a little personable, and after a little discussion, I found myself listening to instructions for operating a pontoon boat.  I've... never driven a motorized boat in my life but tried to make sure none of that painted my expression as I listened.  I mean... I've driven a school bus, and had a degree in physics.  Surely those two things together would be enough for me to figure it out? 

I pulled out from the dock, so far so good, and then out onto the open water.  Oh my lord, I realize now why people get boats.  The feeling of freedom, moving out on the water was absolutely amazing, and the breeze on a warmish June day was not bad either.  Early on, as I rounded the corner towards the bog on the West end, I saw my first target:  A Western Grebe.  These are code two birds in Chelan County, and it was coming down to the time where I needed more of those located.  I had expected it to be the Columbia River, or maybe Lake Chelan, but this bird had been seen earlier in the week, so I was happy to relocate it - bird number 167 for the year.

Western Grebe - Fish Lake

As I neared the marsh itself, I found another tough target:  Cinnamon Teal (168), swimming with a Ring-necked Duck close to the cattails, and I simply couldn't imagine how it could have been seen from anywhere else but on the boat. I smiled at the discovery of what could have become a nemesis bird, and then went to restart the boat. 

I don't know a lot about boats, as I stated, but when an engine won't turn over, my deep knowledge of lawnmowers tells me it ain't good.  I tried... I waited... I adjusted the throttle... I messed with as many variables as I could, but not... what was it that the woman at the store had said *not* to do with the motor?   Five, maybe ten minutes later, after a few minutes of leaving it alone, I stared at the engine... honestly, I can't remember what the last little bit of tinkering was that I tried, but it did turn over.  I counted this as lucky and made a beeline back for the docks.

Fact number four about boats is that it's easier to get them out from a dock than to guide them in, especially if narrow spaces are involved.  I had the right general idea, but was missing each time.  Fortunately some other boaters saw my plight and were able to shout out directions to guide me in.  Stepping on the dock was quite a relief to say the least.

People... go get your fishing pole and see some birds and catch some fish.  It really is a nice place, but... pay attention when they explain the Drive a Boat part. 

Wenatchee

I went to Wenatchee for the cell service and for a quick meal at a burger place.  I got my burger for free on Father's day, and then got down to checking emails and ebird.  "Least Flycatcher????" I read from the ebird alert, noting that Harlequin Duck was also on the list of birds seen.  The location - Stehekin!

Stehekin is a village at the far far end of Lake Chelan - not accessible by roads, only by boat, or for the Very Rugged people of the world, by foot via a few different backpacking routes.    We had been there as a family just a few years before, and just loved the feel of the place.  Looking over the times, and my other plans, I hatched a plan to get there the next day.  For me this felt a bit like a chase, which is a rare thing for me - dropping other plans to go see a bird, but I knew this might not be an easy bird to find otherwise, and Least Flycatchers are pretty good about staying put for at least a little while.

Bedtime

For the night,  I decided to camp at Lake Creek Campground on Entiat Valley Road, getting a Common Nighthawk on the way in for bird #169 for the year.  Campground.  Tent.  Sleep.

A Happy Father's Day :) :) :) :)