>> This past weekend we spent 48 hours (2 nights) in Stehekin with our daughter. It was not really a birding trip. We brought binoculars including a pair for our daughter. She is not a birder, but was a willing participant when we had time to look for birds. We had a great time birding and would highly recommend a trip to Stehekin both for its natural beauty and for the enjoyment of birding in a new and beautiful location. Below is a link to an album of photos from the trip. The bird photos will give you a pretty good idea of what birds we saw. We did not bring a scope. A scope would have helped, but if we went again we would probably still leave the scope at home. Below many of the photos in the album I tried to describe various aspects of Stehekin and the Stehekin Valley. To see these comments you need to view individual photos and not just scroll through the album.

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>> There was one bird incident that we failed to photograph due to distance and rain. We saw a large bird splashing around far out in Lake Chelan. When we lived at Lake Joy we saw two Bald Eagles end up in the water and have to swim to shore using a motion akin to a butterfly stroke that swimmers use. We thought that maybe we were seeing a repeat of that Lake Joy incident. However, it was an Osprey going after a very large fish. The Osprey managed to lift out of the lake and fly away carrying a fish that looked to be 1/2 the length of the Osprey.

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>> A ranger at the Golden West Visitor Center (https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm) in Stehekin was very bird aware and gave a few pointers. Since we really weren't on a birding trip we didn't have too much time to follow up on his hints, but are tempted to return later this Fall and spend more time birding. He said that Grouse could often be seen around the visitor center. He also said that Gray Catbirds as well as California Quail frequented the Stehekin Garden (http://www.stehekingarden.com/). He also said that Black-backed Woodpeckers can be found along the Rainbow Falls Loop Trail (https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/rainbow-loop-trail.htm). This would have been a life bird for us, but we didn't have time to hike this loop. This trail goes up and around Rainbow Falls. It is not the trail to Rainbow Falls (https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/rainbow-falls-mist-trail) which we did go on and was one of the highlights of the trip.

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>> Here is a link to the photo album from the trip.

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>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/albums/72157710903494068

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>> Hank and Karen Heiberg

>> Issaquah, WA

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