Birding on the Cascade Loop

Joe Meche is president of the North Cascades Audubon Society and also serves the chapter as newsletter editor and birding programs coordinator. He has been watching birds for over 50 years and photographing birds and landscapes for more than 30 years.

The Great Washington State Birding Trail (GWSBT) is moving toward completion with only two additional loops to finish. The GWSBT followed the footsteps of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, the nation’s first wildlife viewing trail. The seeds for the Washington version were sown at an Audubon conference in Leavenworth almost 10 years ago. The trail features motor loops that explore different parts of the state and allow the birdwatching public to plan a trip depending on how much time they have and how much area they wish to traverse.

When the final loops have been completed, a total of 3,000 miles of bird habitat will be covered around the state. If you’re interested in adding the maps to your traveling bag of birding paraphernalia, go to http://www.wa.audubon.org and follow the links to order any or all of the trail maps. The maps provide a great reference resource for birding away from home, and reports on the progress of the trail project always enliven the semi-annual gathering of state Audubon chapters.

Every six months, representatives of the North Cascades Audubon Society meet with other chapters’ delegates at the Audubon Council of Washington (ACOW). ACOWs are hosted by specific chapters and, with 26 chapters statewide, our turn comes around every 13 years. In an outstanding show of relative compassion, this year’s spring ACOW host, Spokane Audubon, chose to hold the conference in Leavenworth, thereby saving the rest of us the drive to almost Idaho!

As I prepared for the spring ACOW, the news came in the last week of April that State Highway 20 — the North Cascades Highway — and Washington Pass had been cleared of the seasonal blockade. The plows had once again broken through the heavy winter snow pack! This annual harbinger of spring in the Cascades always comes as good news for people who prefer the northerly route to the eastside as opposed to heavy congestion of the cross-state highways farther south. With the high road open, we decided that the weekend offered an opportunity to navigate the first loop of the GWSBT, also known as the Cascade Loop.

This name was an obvious choice since the same highways we would travel follow the path of the original Cascade Loop, the scenic drive that has long been a mainstay of tourism bureaus in the northern half of the state. One birdwatcher-specific exception to the original loop, however, includes a northerly jog into Whatcom County to visit some of our local birding hotspots. I lobbied long and hard to get this part of the state included in the premier loop of the GWSBT — and the powers that be eventually saw the light.

My primary point in the debate was winter birding with a focus on migratory waterfowl and seabirds. When you consider that the Cascades are literally covered by deep snow through most of the winter, it was only natural to direct attention to the western lowlands and the often impressive numbers of birds you see in the normally ice-free estuaries and bays of the northern reaches of Puget Sound. In the end, Whatcom County became part of the Cascade Loop and still offers some of the state’s best winter birding

On the first weekend in May, I decided that there was a great opportunity to combine business with pleasure and casually follow the birding trail map utilizing the Cascade Loop to sample some of the sites and various habitat types we encountered as we traveled over the mountains and back. After an early morning start with a good number of perched and soaring red-tailed hawks along the Interstate and the usual roadside suspects, we headed east on Highway 2 to cross the North Cascades via Stevens Pass.

Keep in mind that if you were to plan a trip to cover all 68 sites in order, you would begin your long journey at the Edmonds Marsh southwest of Everett and end at the Kayak Point County Park west of Marysville. In our case and for this particular venture, we tried to be expeditious and stick to our plan to follow the original loop.

We passed a number of good sites where we could have spent a bit of time, such as the Heirman Wildlife Preserve, but we were content to stop occasionally along the beautiful Skykomish River where we observed American dippers and a few harlequin ducks. As we approached Stevens Pass, we entered that part of the world where winter was still evident, in the color of basic white. Roadside flocks of pine siskins and scavenging ravens were the only high country birds that we saw in the crossing.

We followed another beautiful valley and raced downstream with the Wenatchee River in fine form. As we rolled into Leavenworth, I remembered that I had considered titling this column “Birding Bavaria,” since the local chamber of commerce promotes the town as a New World version of that special part of southern Germany. I can certainly appreciate what the folks in Leavenworth have done to enhance and promote their community, taking advantage of the spectacular alpine vistas and creating what you might consider a theme park town. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time in the other Bavaria and Leavenworth is just too American to be German — if that makes any sense at all.

The spring ACOW was held at the Tierra Learning Center in Sunitsch Canyon, a few miles north of Leavenworth, and within its 300 acres we observed good eastside birds without too much effort. We took breaks during the sessions and strolled onto the large deck to watch rufous, calliope and black-chinned hummingbirds competing over the hanging feeders. Gray jays came looking for treats while white-breasted nuthatches and Cassin’s finches called and sang from the surrounding trees. On short walks around the center, Cindy encountered chipping sparrows and MacGillivray’s warblers.

Leavenworth provides good opportunities to set up a base camp for birding in the general area. Hotspots include the bird-rich fish hatchery grounds along the Icicle River and up the road into the valley where the big forest fire stopped our cross-state journey in 1994. Birds of note along the river and on the grounds of the Sleeping Lady Retreat are white-headed and black-backed woodpeckers, spotted sandpipers, dippers and ospreys.

We left the conference center on Sunday morning to get back on the loop. We headed east and then north along the Columbia River to Pateros where we turned to follow the Methow Valley to Twisp and Winthrop. You will find a great spot for birds by taking a short side trip off the main highway to Alta Lake State Park. The road leading to the park is itself a hotspot for birds. On past trips we’ve encountered Bullock’s orioles and large numbers of bank swallows including one cliffside filled with nesting burrows. In the campground at the park are

California quail by the dozens and poorwills calling from the hills above the campground in the evening.

Before our turn onto Highway 20, we observed four golden eagles soaring overhead in lazy circles on a gorgeous eastern Washington Sunday morning. The area around Twisp and Winthrop is packed with good sites for birds in the numerous canyons on either side of the highway. The landscape abounds with lakes and ponds that always boast good numbers of breeding birds. A favorite place for us has always been one particular site in the Methow Wildlife Area.

Sullivan Pond sits high above Pearrygin Lake and Winthrop, and epitomizes the beauty of that part of eastern Washington. If the rainfall has been sufficient and the pond is full, you can spend quite a bit of time there strolling the perimeter of the lake through stands of Ponderosa pine and quaking aspen. Ruddy ducks, yellow-headed blackbirds, white-headed woodpeckers and soras are almost sure bets as you take in the wonderful dry air of the eastside.

Back on Highway 20, we began the last and longest leg of the weekend but we knew we’d sleep in our own bed that night, so there was significant solace on the drive. We made a final stop at Mazama for supplies and we were on our way home. The spectacular scenery at Washington Pass will never get old and the enormity of the area around the pass and Liberty Bell Mountain can be breathtaking. The snow was still deep in the avalanche chutes and encouraged us to keep moving.

At the end of the day and after all our gear had been unloaded and put away, I reflected on the concept of a birding trail the size of the Cascade Loop. To do the loop justice and visit as many of the sites as possible, you would need to give yourself anywhere from three days to a full week. In these days of never having enough time, take smaller bites, perhaps. Again, visit Audubon Washington’s Web site for information on how to order copies of the maps of the entire Great Washington State Birding Trail. And then, hit the trail! §