Collaboration Creates New Birding Trail Route

When Christi Norman, director of Audubon's Great Washington State Birding Trail, wants to create a new route, she goes to the source: directly to people who live along the proposed route. Each map takes more than a year to develop and is a collaborative effort from the start.

The fifth of the Birding Trail's seven planned maps, the Sun and Sage Loop, will be unveiled in the state capital Feb. 19^th in a ceremony featuring live birds, a Great Horned Owl and a Red-tailed Hawk.  The new route goes through the heart of Washington's wine country: from Ellensburg to Yakima, down through Tri-Cities, to Walla Walla and back along the Columbia River.

Birding "trails", now offered in 30 states, are self-guided driving tours to places where birds are likely to be seen. With more than 40 million Americans describing themselves as interested in bird watching, the Great Washington State Birding Trail provides a practical, easy way for both residents and visitors to enjoy our 346 annually recorded bird species and our varied natural landscapes. Birding trails provide a popular, successful combination of outdoor recreation, conservation and new rural economic development.

Together with its local chapters, Audubon Washington produced its first map of the birding trail in 2002, the Cascade Loop. The Coulee Corridor followed in 2003, Southwest Loop in 2005, and Olympic Loop in 2007. Two additional routes covering eastern Washington and the Puget Sound area will complete the birding trail by 2010. All maps contain information about habitat, bird species, access, and best seasons for birding.   Washington's own Birding Trail offers family exploration and discovery at places close to home, among some of the country's most beautiful and varied landscapes.

Coming Feb. 19^th - the Sun and Sage Loop. See http://wa.audubon.org and click on Great Washington State Birding Trail.