Waking up in Chelan: Sunday 11/6

196...

I had started the year in Chelan with the idea that monthly trips from January to November, and no unplanned trips over to chase sightings, would lead me to almost 200 species for the year.  By the numbers, it seemed like it would be a pretty close thing.  Having done something similar in Mason County the year before, I felt like it would be all of the code 1 birds (yep!  All 94 were seen), almost all of the code 2 birds (63 of 69) and 75% or so of the code three birds (25 of 36).   There had been 14 rarer birds on top of that to bring me to 196 on my last day in the county. 

The list of birds that I thought were possible was still pretty long!  Two or three dozen of them, with most of them being possibilities along the Columbia (Loons, grebes, ducks, gulls, shorebirds, or maybe even a Snow Bunting or Lapland Longspur on the pebbly shores of the Columbia). 

I woke up in the hotel before breakfast and decided to make one more attempt for Barn Owl.  Horse Lake Preserve on the West end of town had a single sighting that year, so I thought I'd make an attempt there (after so many failures at the Wenatchee Waterfront).  It's a pretty steep climb up the road, and... mud. 

Horse Lake Preserve: Barn Owl O'clock

Dang it.  Mud.  After the previous morning, I had a firm belief that it wasn't worth it.  I parked as soon as I felt the traction disappearing (with a much clearer picture of how I would be turning the car around and returning) and walked.  It was amazing how desolate this was.  I expected to hear some sparrows, see some hawks, but all I got were two species - Chukar and California Quail.  Even a Rough-legged Hawk would have been a nice find, and I'm not completely sure why this habitat isn't quite for them (no records).  I called it good luck that I wasn't stuck in the mud again, and returned to the hotel for breakfast.

Birding the Columbia

In my recent post on scouting for the Blanket Trip, I went step by step through the spots where one can pull over and look for birds along the Columbia.  I hit em all.  I looked at a lot of Horned Grebes, Common Loons, American Wigeons and Coots.  I'd love to say I found something new, but the whole stretch had me coming up empty.  Will Risk was a good stop, if only for mushrooms!

I added in another stop at Lake Chelan, and one new stop - Chelan Falls State Park.   This was an interesting stop, as I did end up finding a good bird, if not a new one:

A really really bad picture of a Surf Scoter :)

Heading across the street, Powerhouse Road was gated off at Long Park, so I couldn't fully investigate all of the little inlets and ponds there, but I did get a good view of some birds I'd seen but one other time during the year.

Barrow's Goldeneyes - Chelan Falls State Park

Fall at Chelan Falls State Park

196 and holding.   I even went up to Wells Dam, and found nothing but Common Loons.  Noon thirty came and I decided there was one more bird to try for.  One!    Now, I was four short of my goal for the year, but there was the possibility of minor consolation, as my life list in the county was now at 199.  200 for the life list would be a nice way to finish up the year.

Tronsen Creek

There had been talk on the listservs about Black-backed Woodpeckers in the Wenatchee Mountains, and I decided that Tronsen Creek would be the way in.

Four levels of zoom for you here.

Somewhere between Wenatchee and Cle Elum off of Highway 97

Take NF 9706 to 9712...

Which doesn't really dead end where that last picture seemed to say it did

And here is a hike for Tronsen Creek

I kept a nice balance of caution and optimism as I climbed, making sure that I never quite got to the point of no return. 

At one point, I got one of the most beautiful pictures of the entire year:

And I thought to myself, THIS... this is why I make these trips.  I was taking in this beautiful scene and thinking of all of the different features  - the yellow/orange of Western Larches, the mixed greenery of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir, the Cascades in the backdrop behind layers of foothills.  And I thought... this is so much of my year in one picture.  Where else could I really be except in Chelan County? :)

Of course... I had to check the map, and realized that I was technically in Kittitas at the moment and... not entirely sure if I was facing the right direction for any of it at all to be in Chelan.  Ignore those facts though.  It's a pretty picture.

The hike up the trail at Tronsen Creek immediately takes you out of Kittitas and into Chelan.  I immediately heard the tapping of a woodpecker.   Hairy.  I smiled at the thought that finding this bird I'd looked for all year would be that easy.  I pulled up Black-backed Woodpecker on my phone and played as I walked for a little bit. 

That little bit wasn't very long, and the playback turned out to be completely unnecessary.  I stopped playing and listened, hearing the tapping in a copse of trees right in front of me.  I got the binoculars on it and watched a completely unaffected Black-backed Woodpecker, hard at work on a tree.  Life looks at my 200th bird in the county.  I'd only taken my phone with me, so these will have to do:

I included two, so that you could zoom in and see that the black blob on the tree moved... see...
Look, just enjoy the pretty pictures:

Sun setting on my year in Chelan

200.  Not for the year, but for my life list. The year would have to stay at 197 after a pretty good effort.  I also finished with a new place, and it really was a gorgeous place.  I'll sneak another entry or two in here to recap the list itself and include pictures of some of the ridiculously beautiful places I was blessed enough to see.

Thanks for reading, y'all, and happy birding.