Bird Walk at Washoe Meadows State Park

An enthusiastic group of 19 participants and leaders gathered on a cool morning near Washoe Meadows State Park on Father’s Day, June 15th for a bird walk. Led by Will Richardson from Tahoe Institute of Natural Science, Michael Myers from Sierra State Parks Foundation, Tobi Tyler from the Tahoe Area Group of the Sierra Club, and Katie Sullivan from California State Parks the group of novice and experienced birders hoped to see a nice variety of migrating birds and summer and year-round resident species.

The group ventured along the Upper Truckee River to head into Washoe Meadows State Park, a mixture of habitats with willows along the river adjacent to lodgepole pines and some open sagebrush meadow-like areas. Despite the diversity of habitat, the morning was relatively quiet from a birding perspective.

Nonetheless, spirits remained high on the clear, sunny morning. Eventually the group was rewarded with witnessing some very cool bird behavior. There was a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches that were repeatedly grabbing food and bringing it to their cavity and awaiting nestlings. The cavity was relatively low in the pine tree, and everyone in the group was dazzled by the great views of the birds and the young bird heads popping up to get food.

Later in the morning, the group finally heard some warblers calling with both Macgillivray’s Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler making their presence known, and the group finally got some brief looks at these colorful summer resident birds. Other highlights from the group included spying a Williamson’s Sapsucker, a couple of Common Nighthawks soaring in the sky, and locating a rather large Bushtit nest.    

At the end of the morning, twenty-four species of birds were recorded by the group. Here is a list of species seen (not including a Spotted Sandpiper recorded by some but not all members of the group): https://ebird.org/checklist/S250734989 

The Sierra State Parks Foundation is grateful for our partners the Tahoe Area Group of the Sierra Club, Tahoe Institute of Natural Science, and California State Parks for helping host nature walks at Washoe Meadows State Park.