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Date:  February 26, 2013

Location  Chemehuevi Wash Hike

Where:  Lake Havasu, Arizona

 

 Chemehuevi Wash runs through Lake Havasu City down to the shoreline of Lake Havasu. It is one of the closest hiking areas to the city, and in fact the hike begins in a residential area at the SW end of Acoma Blvd. right off Highway 95. This was an exploration trip for us, I had heard of it from several other hikers, I had an information sheet put out by the Lake Havasu City Convention and Visitors Bureau, a crude map from the BLM, and I had looked at a satellite photo from Goggle Maps. All this preparation was important because just as I suspected there was absolutely no signage. But it’s hard to go wrong as you just hike in the wash all the way to the lake, about a mile and a half.

Jeanette scanning for birds

Hiking for us now days is actually a combination hike and birding trip. We always take our binoculars and are ever on the alert for any site or sound of birds. We were rewarded with a nice variety on this trip. Halfway down thru the wash we heard a call we did not recognize, and after scanning the side walls of the canyon found a Loggerhead Shrike.

Jeanette looking at Loggerhead Shrike

Loggerhead Shrike

At the end of the wash we came out to the north of Bluebird Cove. A nice restroom, but not much in birds so we explored the other cove on the south side of the wash, Wren Cove. It was more productive, particularly the ridge above and we were able to identify some White-throated Swifts mixed in with some swallows. This was a high light because it was a new bird for my Life List.

Bluebird Cove
Buster looks at the return route up the wash.