Nature Trail: McNary Wildlife Refuge

1. Please visit the Education Center first. Sign the guest book and ask a knowledgeable volunteer what is currently in bloom, nesting, or migrating. Your nature trail walk will be more interesting and informative.

2. After checking in at the Education Center, your next stop will be Station #2. Yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds build nests in the tules and cattails. The native shrub steppe garden provides easy identification of local plant life.

3. Tule (bulrush) lines the edges of the pond, providing habitat for marsh wrens. The plant stalks were woven together by local tribes to make mats for constructing teepees and lodges.

4. The Bird Hyde is open year round for waterfowl observation. Walk quietly and open the door to the Bird Hyde softly, avoiding making sudden noises that may startle nearby wildlife. Spend a few minutes sitting quietly, looking for a nesting bird, or a turtle on a floating log.

Nearby is the Birding Spur. Take a short trek into the trees and see how many songbirds you can spot. Chokecherry, red-osier dogwood and golden currant provide ample feed for smaller birds.

5. Back on the main walking trail, cottonwood and sandbar willow provide cover for many bird species. Open areas are filled with thistle, a favorite food of the American goldfinch, Washington's state bird.

6. The irrigated fields are operated by a co-operative farmer, who leaves some fields unharvested - thus providing food for geese, ducks, pheasants, and quail. Such food is important when native food sources are covered with snow or ice.

7. Although the Russian olive is an invader tree, it provides winter fruit for many of the songbirds on the refuge, as well as nesting sites for black-billed magpies and short-eared owls. Clustered beneath the grove is lamb's quarter, an early spring food for native Americans and early settlers.

8. The cooler canopy of Russian olive provides cover for northern harriers, a member of the hawk family. Look also for magpie nests - egg-shaped stick structures as much as 2-feet high.

9. Sandy areas along the trail provides excellent opportunities to identify tracks of local wildlife. Bullock's orioles build their hanging nests in the Siberian elm and cottonwood trees. The roadway is used by biologists to access the pond for banding migratory waterfolw.

10. Milkweed is host for the larval stage of the monarch butterfly. When broken, the plant's stem oozes a sticky white substance. When mature, the seeds form small umbrella-like parachutes that fill the air. The seed pods are one of the most buoyant materials in nature. It was used in World War II to stuff lifejackets for aviators.

11. Scrub rush (Equisetum), also called snake grass or horsetail, rises from the shady ground. This native plant was used as a potscrubber by early settlers.

12. As water levels rise and fall with moist years and drought, the water beneath the bridge ebbs and flows. At high water levels, duckweed, a waterfowl food, floats on the channel below.

13. The covered bench is an ideal place to sit and look out over the water, listening to songbirds. The black-crowned night heron is frequently seen traversing the open water.

14. The shrub steppe habitat is made up mostly of cheatgrass, sagebrush, and green and gray rabbitbrush. Lizards like hiding in the shade.

Now is a good time to detour along the ridge a short way.

A. Cottonwoods in this area were planted by farmers in the early 1900's. The light, airy seed of the cottonwood is used by many birds to build nests. Common yarrow grows in the open area. This plant with feather-like leaves was prized for its ability to stop bleeding.

B. The sagebrush in this area may be over 70 years old, dating from before the completion of the McNary Dam. The pole near the shoreline was installed to give osprey a high viewpoint over the water. Bald eagles visit the refuge in autumn to scavenge wounded waterfowl and dead fish.

C. Saucer-shaped platforms provide protection from predators for nesting geese. Coyotes, skunks, and raccoons, will eat eggs and young geese.

D. The island is an ideal nesting habitat, free of non-flying predators. Marsh hawks (northern harrier) are not deterred and are often seen cruising the edges of the pond. The large boulders were deposited as the Missoula floods receded from the region.

E. The waxy blooms of the prickly pear cactus can be seen in late April and May, bearing edible fruit. Protected by the spines, beetles and spiders find safe haven from birds.

Caution: DO NOT return to the refuge center via the roadway. Heavy traffic makes the road extremely dangerous. Walk back down the Alphabet Spur to return to the main walking trail.

Back on the Main Walking Trail

15. Tumble mustard and cheatgrass go to seed June through August, producing a fire hazard. The lichen on the sage branches provides a burst of rust-orange color to the trail.

16. Green and gray rabbit brush is prolific along the trail. Cottonwood trees provide habitat for red-tailed hawks. Listen for their "kee-er" at your approach.

17. Sand dunes are a fluvial deposit (from the action of a river or stream). Scrub rush grows on the shady slopes, serving as an anchor for the dunes. Beyond the slopes are numerous hidden ponds.

18. Here you are surrounded by wetlands. The Lewis and Clark Expedition likely came to a place like this searching for unique plant and wildlife specimens to return to President Jefferson.

19. In the 1960's, fields such as this one were cleared to grow crops. The irrigated fields are used to provide supplemental food for migrating waterfowl.

20. Color changes in the cottonwood leaves are as much dependent on moisture levels as cooler autumn temperatures. The nearby rock-pile is an ideal habitat for gopher snakes.

And now you've returned to the trail that leads back to the Education Center. We hope you've enjoyed your walk! Visit the Education Center to learn more about the plants and animals that live in our wildlife refuge.