Skip to content

Donate

Search for:

Search for:

Menu

Discover The Institute, Environmental Learning Center & Ecosystem
Blog Stories from the field
Sign Up Learning Adventures for all ages
Retreat Book your conference or gathering
Shop Apparel, gifts & souvenirs
Support Become a donor
Directions & visitor info

Donate

Get updates

Blog

homestead

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep3: Lucinda Davis

Mountain School at Home “ACHOTUS” Ep3: Lucinda Davis

Dec 2, 2020North Cascades Institute

Posts navigation

Blog

Blog Home
Naturalist Notes
Life at the Learning Center
Institute News
Mountain School
Youth Adventures
Adventures
Field Excursions
Photography

Recent Articles

Giving Back to our Community through Service
Youth environmental group works on composting at Sedro-Woolley High School
Forest Walking
Board Profiles: Meet Nan McKay and Michael Liang
Valley kids learn about natural connections at Mountain School

Follow us on Instagram

ncascades

Add new dimension to time spent in nature by learn

Add new dimension to time spent in nature by learning about the adaptations of various birds, animals and plants that thrive in winter across the North Cascade region.

❄️ EXPLORING THE WINTER WORLD // Online with Gina Roberti, March 1

This virtual class will help you hone your field observation skills and provide new insights, stories and clues that create deeper connection to the winter world. What’s playing on our senses? Who else is out here? What might they be up to, and which behaviors are unique to winter? Gina Roberti is back to help us answer these questions and more!

SIGN UP: ncascades.org/online

📸 Juliane Liebermann

Happy #wildlifewednesday! Check out these up clos

Happy #wildlifewednesday!

Check out these up close and personal photos of a red breasted sapsucker. Want to know more about these cool birds? I’m glad you asked!!

🪶 Adults have a red head and upper chest and a white lower belly and rump. They are black on the back and wings with bars; and have a large white wing patch.

🪶 They nest in tree cavities and prefer old growth forest. Their breeding habitat is usually forest that includes pine, hemlock, Douglas-fir, fir, and spruce, though they are known to use other woodland habitats.

🪶 Red breasted sapsuckers require living trees to provide the sap on which they feed. A sapsucker's tongue is adapted with stiff hairs for collecting the sap and they also eat the insects attracted to it.

Red breasted sapsuckers are common in Washington, have you ever seen or heard one?

📸: @misa_mgphotos

“When views like this make waking up at 5 am wor

“When views like this make waking up at 5 am worth it.”

What kind view is worth it for you to get up at 5am? Misty forests, alpine start to summit snowy peaks, lakeside stillness, mountain sunrise?

Tell us in the comments.

📸: @withnamd

Hey #owllovers, there’s still time to sign up!

Hey #owllovers, there’s still time to sign up!

🦉 OWLS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST - Online, Jan 26

Photographer Paul Bannick will be with us this Thursday to provide a look into the lives of owls through rare and dramatic images, video, sound, and stories from the field. We’ll follow owls over the course of a year and witness each stage of life: courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and gaining independence in fall; and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food.

Paul’s work helps inspire conservation and education efforts, and helps spread awareness about the threats facing these iconic birds and what we can do to protect them.

Register for this and SNOWY OWL: A VISUAL HISTORY on Feb 15 >> ncascades.org/online

#birdingphotography #birdphotography #owls #snowyowl #owlsofinstagram #onlinelearning #virtuallearning #environmentaleducation #owllover

This IS a serious question: Do you have the first

This IS a serious question: Do you have the first aid skills to keep you and your crew safe in a backcountry emergency? Adventure with confidence by getting your H-WFR certification.

This training combines online and in-person instruction provided by @remotemedicaltraining and is hosted at the Environmental Learning Center on Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park. Includes lodging, delicious meals, and access to nearby winter recreation.

Not only will you be learning essential backcountry medical skills, you’ll also be in one of the most beautiful class settings you can get!

Learn more about 2023 Wilderness Medicine Courses >>
ncascades.org/hwfr

📸 Carson Yach

📍The Environmental Learning Center is located on the ancestral homelands of the Upper Skagit, Nlaka’pamux, Sauk-Suiattle, and Swinomish peoples

#remotemedicaltraining #remoteemt #emttraining #wildernessmedicine #emergencymedicine #beprepared #wfr #wildernessfirstresponder #wildernessfirstaid #safetyfirst #outdoorsurvival #learnoutside #teachoutside #northcascades #northcascadesnationalpark #northcascadesinstitute

It’s a winter wonderland out there.

It’s a winter wonderland out there.

What winter adventures are you going on this weekend?

📸: @jaguilera66

Birder’s World calls the Skagit Valley “one of

Birder’s World calls the Skagit Valley “one of the nation’s best birding destinations.” Indeed, thanks to the critical winter habitat it provides for hundreds of bird species, it’s a birder’s paradise as swans, geese, eagles, falcons, and ducks galore feed and rest in the area’s fields, wetlands and marine waters.

Brendan McGarry will help us survey the area’s profound bird life, with a focus on raptors, wintering waterfowl and shorebirds, as well as the relationships that bring these species together in this particular place. We’ll go to where the action is and by the day’s end, you’ll have gained strategies for identifying local birds and enjoying the Skagit’s wild bounty on your own.

SKAGIT VALLEY WINTER BIRDING - February 11, 8 AM - 4 PM

SIGN UP: ncascades.org/classes

📸 Brendan McGarry

📍Ancestral homelands of Swinomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, Sauk Suiattle, and Coast Salish peoples

Happy #wildlifewednesday! Can anyone name this spe

Happy #wildlifewednesday! Can anyone name this speedy bird of prey?

Hints:

🦅 A member of the family Falconidae, this bird of prey is the fastest bird in the world reaching dive speeds up to 200mph

🦅 Due to pesticide use, mainly DDT, in the mid -20 century, populations crashed and they were placed on the Endangered Species List. They were removed from the list in 1999.

🦅 Reaching sexual maturity at one year, it mates for life and nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times, on tall human-made structures.

🦅 They can be found on six continents, but prefer mostly mountain ranges, river valleys, coastlines and increasingly cities.

🦅 About crow size, they are the largest falcon over most of the continent, with long, pointed wings and a long tail. Long primary feathers give this bird of prey a long-winged shape. And as with most raptors, males are smaller than females.

🦅 They feeds almost exclusively on medium-sized birds such as pigeons, doves, waterfowl, etc.

📸: @mukul.soman

Happy #mountainmonday! The North Cascades has some

Happy #mountainmonday! The North Cascades has some of the most remote and rugged backcountry campsites around, like Sahale glacier camp.
Fun facts:

🏔️Sahale glacier camp is the highest camp in North Cascades National Park at around 7600 ft.

🏔️It is a strenuous hike of 12 miles round trip with 4000 ft of elevation gain

🏔️It is one of the most popular places to camp and requires a backcountry permit/reservation

🏔️ There is a composting toilet at camp and that view 👌 IYKYK

🏔️ If you want to take in the views make sure to check road conditions as Cascade River road closes in the winter and varies on when/if it opens for summer

🏔️As it is one of the most popular places to recreate in the park, please #recreateresponsibly

📍Ancestral homelands of the Nlaka’pamux, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation & Syilx (Okanagan) people
📸: @wjlphoto

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Enter your email address to be notified when a new post is published!

Discover
Sign Up
Retreat
Support

Directions & visitor info

(360) 854-2599 info@ncascades.org Contact

Get updates

Careers Media

© North Cascades Institute|Privacy Policy