Imperial
Valley & Laguna Mountains
27
February 2005
Tour Guide:
Henry Detwiler
Today I had a great time showing Gail Binder and her father, Harold Mudge,
a sampling of the birds in the Laguna Mountains and the Anza Borrego
Dessert.
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
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Gail and Harold in front of
giant ocotillo, in the town of Ocotillo
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I met Gail and Harold at the Calipatria Inn at 0630
on a beautiful Sunday morning, and we set out on a large circuit starting
at Fig Lagoon, heading north past Lake Cuyamaca to Julian, and then
heading back east down the mountain into the Imperial Valley.
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Our first stop was Fig Lagoon, in the southwestern
corner of the Imperial Valley. We watched Redheads, grebes,
and a small flock of American White Pelicans floating about the
lake.
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American White Pelican |
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Great Egret
Fig Lagoon is always a good spot to closely examine
cormorants. We saw them in both winter and breeding plumage.
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Both Great and Snowy Egrets were fishing and posing in the trees
along the bank.
Double-crested Cormorant
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Green Heron
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Several Green Herons perched on the tops of trees poking out through
the reed beds,
watching us intently until we moved on.
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| As the desert gives way to the mountains, ocotillos
become more abundant. While we were looking at this
magnificent towering specimen on the western edge of Ocotillo, we
also spotted a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. |
Ocotillo bloom
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California Thrasher
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Close to the town of Jacumba, we found this thrasher
singing. And then we heard, and glimpsed a couple of
California Quail, too.
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In the town of Jacumba are many residents that feed birds.
Several species of hummingbirds were coming to a feeder near this
tree. The light on the Rufous was spectacular.
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Rufous Hummingbird
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Acorn Woodpecker
Farther up into the Lagunas, Mountain Chickadees
became plentiful. This one was also frequenting a feeder.
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At Live Oak Springs we were entertained by
numerous Acorn Woodpeckers. Oak Titmice also roamed the same
live oaks.
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Western Bluebird
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A stop at Lake Cuyamaca netted us several Western Bluebirds,
including this female. From there we headed farther north to
Julian, and then down the grade to Anza Borrego State Park.
The flowers were spectacular, and we added a final target bird to
our day's list: Black-throated Sparrow. We got back to
Calipatria after the dark, having spent a fine day birding!
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