Young Birder Hike up Flatiron Mountain!

We had a fantastic trip with 8 youth today in the Coquihalla Summit area. We spent 8 hours on the mountain and hiked 14.5 km, it was a challenging but very beautiful hike! Our mission was to search for White-tailed Ptarmigan. It started off very foggy and then once we got to the top the fog cleared and the sun came out showing us beautiful views, all around us! It sure was rewarding after the long hike. The youth were troopers through it all.

We hiked to a beautiful alpine lake under the peak of Flatiron and saw many animals during the day including Pika, Hoary Marmots, Red Squirrel, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels and Yellow-Pine Chipmunks.

We had such a fantastic time together telling stories and laughing the whole day through. The Youth all worked together scouring large areas for the Ptarmigan. We did not end up seeing any White-tailed Ptarmigan but did find fresh scat and feathers so we knew they were in the area. We ended up with great birds today regardless.

The species list is as follows: Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, 4 Bohemian Waxwings (which is early for this species), Northern Pygmy-Owl, Townsend Solitaires, Gray Jay, American Pipits, Sharp-Shinned Hawks, Steller's Jay, Northern Flickers, Merlin, Dark-eyed Juncos, Common Raven , Red-tailed Hawk, Crows, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pacific Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, Myrtle Yellow-Rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrow, Red Crossbill and Pine Siskens.

More info on this hike for anyone interested is found here:

http://www.clubtread.com/routes/Route.aspx?Route=1

On the way home we stopped at the Hope Airport to see the continuing Lewis's Woodpeckers and we ended up seeing 8 birds, which was a great way to cap off our great day together.

Here are some photos taken by myself (Melissa Hafting) of the youth on the trip:

Young birder on Flatiron - Photo: Melissa Hafting
In the fog before we took the trail to Flatiron and the alpine lake

The young birders on Flatiron Lake - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Fog began to lift just before we went to Flatiron
Hiking on Flatiron was a treat - Photo: Liron Gertsman
At the beautiful alpine lake beneath the peak of Flatiron
Alpine Lake on Flatiron - Photo: Liron Gertsman

 A fantastic scenery shot by Liron Gertsman:
The landscape is amazing up on Flatiron: Photo by Liron Gerstman

 A Hoary Marmot running around at the base of Needle Peak:
Hoary Marmot at Needle Peak - Photo: Liron Gertsman

 You can see all the gorgeous landscape shots taken by Liron Gerstman HERE.

 Thanks to you all for the fun we had this year! It's been great fun doing these field trips with you.

 If you would like to join the Young Birder Program see contact info and list of events HERE

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