Painted
Rock Road Rookery
July 2001
to Mar 2002
Short visits to a heron rookery on the west side of the Paloma Ranch
73
cumulative species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
|
Rookery Pond
Egret Babies
|
Anyone who has traveled west on I-8 to San Diego has
passed through the Paloma Ranch, which encompasses much of the
Citrus Valley just west of Gila Bend. It's an oasis in the
desert, and along its western boundary is a heron and cormorant
rookery. During the summer of 2001 all three species of
egrets, cormorants, and Black-crowned Night Herons bred.
|
| In late May there was a
"plague" of tarantula hawks, which were feasting on the
mesquite flowers. 
Tarantula Hawks
|
Double-crested Cormorant
|
|
Aside from egrets and herons, many other birds
take advantage of the cover and the water. Cliff Swallows
come from the nearby overpass, grackles often roost in the
trees, and last year a pair of Greater Roadrunners bred in the mesquite. |
Great-tailed Grackles and
Egret
|
Egret Rookery in the
mesquite
|
Since this rookery is on the way to
and from Luke Air Force Base, I often stop there on the way to my
Reserves duty. Last summer there were numerous bees and butterflies
taking advantage of the weeds and flowers.
|
|
|
Immature Great Egrets
|
This photo was taken through the vegetation, giving a filtered
effect. The sharpest photos on this page were made using my digital
camera and scope. The pictures of the grackles, egrets,
and the d-c cormorant were taken with a Canon zoom lens and then
scanned from slides, yielding much less resolution.
|
|
Because of the extraordinary bird life, I was able to experiment
with my digital photography here, and figured out some tricks that
yield consistently recognizable photos (provided there is enough
light).
The photo of
the adult Black-crowned night heron on the right was taken at a
shutter speed of 1/500 of a second to cut down on vibration.
The photo of
the Snowy Egret was taken with my Canon camera, panning as the
bird flew by.
|
Black-crowned Night Heron
Snowy Egret
|
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler
|
Wilson's
Warblers can be thick during spring & fall migration.
And finally, here's a
closing shot--not too difficult to ID this bird!
|
|
