My Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Challenge. My friend Edith told me about their "Lewis and Clark expedition" and I knew I had to give it a try. The objective: head up Strawberry Creek in Great Basin National Park and see Lewis's Woodpeckers and Clark's Nutcrackers.

Background. From 1804 to 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were on the Corps of Discovery Expedition, traveling up the Missouri River, crossing the Rocky Mountains, and heading down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean and then returning. They had months of preparation, including learning more about natural sciences such as botany and ornithology. During the course of the expedition, they found hundreds of new species to science. Just two animal species were named for them: the Lewis's Woodpecker and Clark's Nutcracker. 

The Adventure. I started out sightseeing last night's flash floods along Highway 487. 

Then I turned off Highway 6 & 50 onto the Strawberry Creek road. Passing some campers, I drove along the road, which had a little water damage, but nothing too bad.

I paused at the park boundary to check out the signs.

Then I drove slowly, looking for birds. I didn't see as many as I expected, but I did see a chuckar and her babies.

At the trailhead I took the left trail for the Strawberry Sage loop so that I would be in the trees more. Almost immediately I was bombarded by the bubbling song of house wrens and even managed to spot a couple. They are adorable!

Continuing on, I kept looking and listening for birds.

A couple lazuli buntings caught my eye next. They are such pretty birds!

And then I got my first good view of a Clark's nutcracker. These loud members of the Corvid family are usually seen at higher elevations, so I was delighted to see a bunch of them.

I even saw a couple sitting still, preening. 

William Clark noticed this bird in Montana in August 1805. It was later given the name Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). The bird is about robin-sized with a sharp bill, gray breast, and black and white wings. 

These raucous birds are experts at seed collecting and caching, feeding their youngs seeds cached from the previous year. They also eat insects. 

After the young have fledged (hatched and flown), Clark's nutcrackers form loose family groups, which probably explains why I was seeing a group of them flit about.

By now I was in the burned part of Strawberry Creek, where the wildfire occured ten years ago, in 2016. The drainage is making a good comeback.

It was here that I saw numerous Lewis's woodpeckers, generally a pretty rare bird, but they have been seen for many years now in the Strawberry Creek drainage. And, wow, they are magnificent! Meriwether Lewis saw this bird first in July 1805 in Montana, and it was identified in 1811.

At first glance they look like a dark woodpecker. But if you look closer, you can see hints of red.

And if one is so kind to turn around, you can see a reddish breast.

Some Lewis's woodpeckers aren't as reddish. But they still look a little different than other woodpeckers. They also move differently than other woodpeckers. Instead of pecking at trees to get insects under the bark, they'll glean insects on the bark or burned areas.

And they also take off from branches to catch insects mid-flight, like flycatchers. It's so fun to watch them! 

While I was watching, I saw one with something strange in its bill. It sort of looked like fish eggs, but this isn't the right season. So what is this? Edit: Probably raspberries!

Whatever it is, it was being delivered to chicks! I couldn't believe my luck to find a high hole in a tree with a little head poking out.

Then a parent swooped in to deliver a meal.

And flew off so quickly! The chick has its mouth closed--for a moment.

It soon started squawking again, "Feed me, feed me!"

While I was watching the birds, I run my Merlin app. And at one point, I was hearing both birds at the same time. I had to take a screenshot. 

Ready to take the Lewis and Clark Expedition challenge? I'm not sure how long both birds will be around Strawberry Creek, but right now they're pretty easy to find on the Strawberry Sage loop trail. And I'm sure this can be completed other places as well.

Although I was on the lookout for all birds, having a special target made this birding trip special and had me looking up history when I got home. If you have other fun challenges like this, let me know!

Here's more reading if you want to dig in:

https://montanakids.com/history_and_prehistory/lewis_and_clark/plants_animals.htm

https://www.nps.gov/lecl/basic-facts.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition

Pole Canyon-Timber Creek Loop, GBNP

I woke up tired, but it was a beautiful morning, and I really wanted to go on a long hike. Pole Canyon is gorgeous this time of year, and I never got around to hiking it last year, so off I went.

I wanted to do the whole loop, so I parked near the entrance of Grey Cliffs and hiked down to the Pole Canyon trail. I crossed Baker Creek, which is rather low this year.

And then I got distracted by birds, violet-green swallows in particular. They perched so I could get a look at them.

A bit up the trail I got distracted by this Hooker's balsamroot, growing low to the ground. Many flower species are extra diminuitive this year due to the lack of precip. This was the only Hooker's balsamroot I saw on the whole hike, so I was glad I photographed it!

Pole Canyon is fun because it goes through a bunch of habitats. Most of it is an old grade, and the gradient is not too steep.

Some of the water crossings are dry, even though it's May and this should be the wettest time of year.

The lower part of Pole Creek was dry, but as I got up higher into the limber pine and white fir, I could hear the creek. A bunch of horsetails are along one short stretch of the trail.

Then the trail comes out into nice meadows and water birches along the creek.

Up higher there are some ponderosa pines, along with limber pines and white fir and aspen.

I finally got to the junction trail.

When I looked at the other part of the sign, I had to laugh. It said the trailhead was 2.5 miles. The sign at the trailhead said the junction was 1.8 miles. It's somewhere in that vicinity!

Goosefoot violets are now blooming.

From the trail sign, the trail ascends steeply up to the ridge to the west, and you get a view looking back down Pole Canyon.

Near the ridgeline, you get great views of Doso Doyabi, which still has a dusting of snow.

I even found one patch of snow near the trail.

I was surprised how brown the Timber Creek section looks. Hopefully it will green up soon.

I found a bunch of snow buttercups.

Near the Timber Creek trailhead are these lovely bridges.

And then I was at the trailhead. I took a sharp right to take the trail down to Baker Creek campground.

Through the trees I spotted a couple marmots lounging on boulders.

I went through Baker Creek campground, the connector trail, through Grey Cliffs Campground, and then back to my vehicle. Here's a different yellow violet, with different-shaped leaves. Overall, I think it was about 10 km or 6 miles. With my frequent stops for birds and flowers, it took me about 3 1/4 hours, and I only saw two other hikers. It's a lovely jaunt when it's not too hot.