12. Pontoon Boat Tour (#6)
Saturday, August 10, 2024 | 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
12. PONTOON BOAT TOUR ON LAKE ALMANOR (#6)
DESCRIPTION
Traveling by pontoon boat on beautiful Lake Almanor with majestic views of Lassen Peak, this trip will take participants to see Western and Clark’s Grebes on their floating nests (from the safe distance of 300 feet). While skimming across the water from a comfortable seat, you will have the opportunity to see many different species of birds. Some of the frequently seen species are Osprey, Bald Eagle, Common Merganser, White Pelican, Bufflehead, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Goldeneye, Eared Grebe, Ring-billed and California Gulls, Red-necked Phalarope, and Forster’s and Common Terns. Rarities including Parasitic Jaeger and Sabine's Gull are often seen as well.
TRIP LEADER: Suzanne McDonald
I began my bird-watching career at the age of eight in Ventura, California when my mother tied up a mockingbird nest that the wind had damaged. I began following the baby mockingbirds around the back yards of my neighborhood and soon was watching all the other neighborhood birds. When I discovered Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds on a family vacation to a National Park, I was on my way to a birdwatching hobby that has never stopped. Luckily, my parents instilled in me a love of the outdoors and nature which became imbedded in my personality and my belief system. As I went about my life, the visual (and later auditory) stimulation of birds has always been the icing on the cake. Concern for our environment and the habitat of all animals has been a logical consequence of this awareness.
My dream job was to be an outdoor interpreter for birds and the rest of nature. However, I never actually pursued that goal, instead filling a variety of odd careers from secretarial to puppetry to landscape maintenance to working in our local prisons as clerical staff. Many of my jobs were a lesson in what I did NOT want to do. From 1989-1996 I was a partner-owner in McDonald Boat Rentals which operated out of Plumas Pines Marina on Lake Almanor near Chester, California. It was in this job that I learned to operate boats and to know Lake Almanor (where I still live).
While most of the tourists were interested in fishing, I was busy watching the bird life. I had a front row seat for eight seasons watching Western Grebes, Common Mergansers and Common Loons, Pied-bill Grebes, Forester’s Terns, Spotted Sandpipers, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye, Ospreys and Bald Eagles as I rented boats and waited for them to return. I even had a cut-out window in the old building we used to store life vests where I watched Tree Swallows raise their nestlings. Birding has filled the hours, edges, margins, interstices, corners, dreams, weekends, vacations, and trips of my lifetime. Now that I am retired, I am volunteering with Plumas Audubon Society as a Board member because of its many activities that further my love and passion for birds and hope that I can impart some of that joy to others.
- $40. Limited to 14 participants.
- Meet at 1:30 PM at the Almanor Boat Launch North of Prattville (west shore).
- Bring water, sun protection, binoculars.
- Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
- Activity level 1 and 4. Travel on water, walking up and down the docks.
DESCRIPTION
Traveling by pontoon boat on beautiful Lake Almanor with majestic views of Lassen Peak, this trip will take participants to see Western and Clark’s Grebes on their floating nests (from the safe distance of 300 feet). While skimming across the water from a comfortable seat, you will have the opportunity to see many different species of birds. Some of the frequently seen species are Osprey, Bald Eagle, Common Merganser, White Pelican, Bufflehead, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Goldeneye, Eared Grebe, Ring-billed and California Gulls, Red-necked Phalarope, and Forster’s and Common Terns. Rarities including Parasitic Jaeger and Sabine's Gull are often seen as well.
TRIP LEADER: Suzanne McDonald
I began my bird-watching career at the age of eight in Ventura, California when my mother tied up a mockingbird nest that the wind had damaged. I began following the baby mockingbirds around the back yards of my neighborhood and soon was watching all the other neighborhood birds. When I discovered Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds on a family vacation to a National Park, I was on my way to a birdwatching hobby that has never stopped. Luckily, my parents instilled in me a love of the outdoors and nature which became imbedded in my personality and my belief system. As I went about my life, the visual (and later auditory) stimulation of birds has always been the icing on the cake. Concern for our environment and the habitat of all animals has been a logical consequence of this awareness.
My dream job was to be an outdoor interpreter for birds and the rest of nature. However, I never actually pursued that goal, instead filling a variety of odd careers from secretarial to puppetry to landscape maintenance to working in our local prisons as clerical staff. Many of my jobs were a lesson in what I did NOT want to do. From 1989-1996 I was a partner-owner in McDonald Boat Rentals which operated out of Plumas Pines Marina on Lake Almanor near Chester, California. It was in this job that I learned to operate boats and to know Lake Almanor (where I still live).
While most of the tourists were interested in fishing, I was busy watching the bird life. I had a front row seat for eight seasons watching Western Grebes, Common Mergansers and Common Loons, Pied-bill Grebes, Forester’s Terns, Spotted Sandpipers, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye, Ospreys and Bald Eagles as I rented boats and waited for them to return. I even had a cut-out window in the old building we used to store life vests where I watched Tree Swallows raise their nestlings. Birding has filled the hours, edges, margins, interstices, corners, dreams, weekends, vacations, and trips of my lifetime. Now that I am retired, I am volunteering with Plumas Audubon Society as a Board member because of its many activities that further my love and passion for birds and hope that I can impart some of that joy to others.
