May 13, 2009 | Tips from Travellers >
Clearwater, Bird Watching
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We took an early morning hike about a half hour from the lodge to a site where Osprey’s have built a nest. Apparently, the nesting pair have returned to this same location for many years. It’s an easy walk into the area with lots of scrub pine and soil that is much more sandy that I would have expected. The weather was great with a bit of cloud and sun so we didn’t get overly heated by the walk.
Once there we sat on one of the many sand dunes that over look the nesting site. No doubt you’ll have brought a camera, but one with a good to great zoom is better so you can get some good close-up shots. You can hear the hollow chirping of the Osprey long before you see them, but we didn’t get the opportunity as we had to head back. Bernward said that they are a bit shy of strangers this early in the season and we would have to wait a long while for them to return so we departed.
Other birds I saw while here were the colorful Rufous Hummingbirds that frequent the feeder on the front porch, a young eaglet that was swaying in the wind currents at the southern tip of the Tatlayoko Lake, and a frisky Wiskey Jack that was looking for a handout that never came. Of course there are the loons on the lake and Gisela said there are probably four to five pairs that reside here from spring to fall. Other birds you might see include several varieties of pigeons, ravens, sandpipers, bluebirds, hawks, and any number of ducks. You can walk into many of the areas to see birds, but you can also paddle around the lake or take the all terrain vehicles to go into the back country areas.