Registration is required for this trip and will be limited to 8 participants. Please email Craig to register. 

Field Trip Leader: Craig Swolgaard

This trip will explore a little birded part of the Sierra Nevada off Ice House Road at over 6000 feet elevation. Tells Creek flows through Van Vleck meadow just west of the Desolation Wilderness. A trailhead for equestrians and hikers begins at the parking lot but we will follow a road that circles the meadow itself. This is a good spot to see a variety of Sierra Nevada birds including Lazuli Bunting, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Purple and Cassin’s Finch, Green-tailed Towhee, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Brown Creeper, and others. A pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers have been breeding there the past several years.

This trip will last into the early afternoon, so bring a lunch and water. Hiking is easy and fairly level. The meadow can be wet so wear hiking boots if possible. 

Directions and confirmation of exact meeting location and time will be provided upon registration. (We will be meeting at my house at 7:30 AM. It will be about a 50 minute drive to the trailhead.)

Williamson’s Sapsucker, Image by Daniel Lee Brown