From Mount Rainier, I will travel back inland.
Day 24 (Monday July 6) – Turnbull NWR and Glacier National Park
- On the suggestion of my friend Steve, I’m going to make a stop at the Turnbull NWR near Spokane, Washington. According to him, it is as close to a real taiga environment as I will see with peat-moss bogs and the chance for Moose and Porcupine.
- Target Birds
- Trumpeter Swan*
- California Quail
- Virginia Rail
- Western Wood-Pewee
- Black-Billed Magpie
- Black-Capped Chickadee
- Townsend’s Solitaire
- Red-Crossbill
- From here, on To Glacier National Park. I plan on staying two nights here.
Days 24-26 (Monday July 6 – Wednesday July 8) – Glacier National Park
- Two days at Glacier NP. I got a campground in Swan Lake (I’ll make sure to put some Tchaikovsky on my iPod). This will be a lot of sightseeing, traveling the Going-to-the-Sun Road, and perhaps a little birding.
- Target Birds.
- Harlequin Duck
- Common Goldeneye
- Barrow’s Goldeneye*
- Ruffed Grouse*
- Common Loon
- Golden Eagle
- Vaux’s Swift*
- Rufous Hummingbird*
- Calliope Hummingbird
- American Three-Toed Woodpecker*
- Black-Backed Woodpecker*
- Olive-Sided Flycatcher
- Willow Flycatcher
- Hammond’s Flycatcher
- Cassin’s Vireo*
- Gray Jay*
- Black-Billed Magpie
- Clark’s Nutcracker*
- Violet-Green Swallow
- Bank Swallow*
- Black-Capped Chickadee
- Chestnut-Backed Chickadee*
- Pacific Wren
- American Dipper
- Townsend’s Solitaire
- Veery*
- Varied Thrush*
- MacGIllivray’s Warbler
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Vesper Sparrow
- Western Tanager
- Black-Headed Grosbeak
- Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finch*
- Evening Grosbeak
Days 26-28 (Wednesday July 8 – Friday July 10) Yellowstone
- Ah, Yellowstone. The largest volcano in the world. Full of wonder. Full of sulfur. Full of mammals.
- I’ve got two nights reserved here. Well, I say here, it’s actually at the Snowbank Campground in Montana, but it’s as close as I could get. Every single campsite in Yellowstone was booked solid. So much for being late to the party.
- Target birds here should be nearly identical to those mentioned above, so I won’t bother to list them.
- I do plan to try some of the touristy stuff here.
Day 28 (Friday July 10) – Craters of the Moon
- It seems like a bit of back-tracking, but from Yellowstone, I plan to meet up with my friend Steve in Idaho. I’ll most likely stay with him for a few days, before finally heading back home.
- I will meet Steve at Craters of the Moon sometime on the 10th. He’s birded here before and knows the area well.
- It’s supposed to be a surefire spot to find American Pika.
Days 29 and 30 (Saturday July 11 and Sunday July 12) – Boise area
- Here I shall let Steve take the wheel (literally and figuratively) and we shall do some target birding to pick up a few species I will have missed (namely Sagebrush Sparrow and Prairie Falcon as well as a few others).
- The best part of this visit, will be not sleeping in a tent for the first time in a month!
Bret's Birding Blog 