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Posted by Mike on 18:54:55 03/07/09
In Reply to: Re: JW Corbett WMA posted by e. Gehring
You can take the grade all the way to trail 6. It is a bumpy ride so take it slow. Trail 6 is a bit different than the grade. I would suggest driving it only with a 4-wheel drive vehicle as it is very sandy and does have some ruts. Your best bet is the canal along trail 6 ca be crossed by foot if you head slightly east when you get to trail 6. Its kinda of confusing to state in words but you will see you get there. You can then walk the trail on the opposite side of the canal - it is much easier. Will be a bit of a walk but plenty of birds along the way.
As far as RCWs go we have 8 breeding pairs and numerous bachelors. But that is on 60,000 acres so finding the birds can be difficult. Your best bet is to take North section of trail 8 about 2-3 miles and look for banded trees. There are numerous historic clusters out there so look for trees with fresh sap. The birds forage 0.5-0.75 miles away from there cluster in any given direction. So after that is a crap shoot. The only way to guarantee you see them is to get there before sunrise or stay their till they come in to roost around sunset. Remeber they are an endangered species and we have a very small population and undue stress on the birds is not welcomed. If you do find an active tree you can stay pretty far back and watch them forage in the mornng/evening with a scope and not intrude one bit. That is how I usually do it. That is until I have to climb the trees and snatch the chicks out of the cavity to band them :)
Right now turkey season is open so all the trails are accessible but that also means numerous hunters will be about. And Corbett always seems to attract a few crazies that think they own land. I will leave it at that. If you do come make sure you grab a Corbett map and check the rules and regulations for trail usage outside of hunting seasons.
I am always willing to take birders out to see the RCWs when I am available.
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