Читать книгу Top Trails: Lake Tahoe. Must-Do Hikes for Everyone онлайн

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The skies above the Lake Tahoe Basin are home to hundreds of bird species. While hiking around the shore of Lake Tahoe or the banks of rivers and creeks, keep your eyes peeled for bald eagles and ospreys, though they are not particularly common. Red-tailed hawks are the raptors more frequently seen patrolling the skies. Great horned owls are primarily nocturnal but may be seen napping on a tree limb during the day. A walk along Tahoe’s trails without seeing a Clark’s nutcracker, mountain chickadee, or Steller’s jay is hard to imagine. Numerous songbirds fly around the Tahoe Basin, but a fine treat would be the sighting of a mountain bluebird flitting about a subalpine meadow or perched on the branch of a young lodgepole pine near the edge.

Amphibians and reptiles are common residents of the area. The most frequently seen species include the Pacific tree frog, the western fence lizard, and the common garter snake. Though possible, encountering a western rattlesnake in the Lake Tahoe Basin is extremely unlikely.