Eric
goes to the snow!
Feb.
03,
2002
Guide-Bob
Miller
A scouting trip into the Laguna Mountains for the up-coming San Diego
Bird Festival with my nephew Eric.
49
species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
Eric the
comedian.
More pictures in the snow click HERE
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Eric had NEVER
seen real snow!! I picked him up at sunup and we headed for the
hills. It had snowed in the Laguna's about four days prior and it
was well below freezing when we made our first stop in Jacumba. As
we were coming into town I could see that they had run the
irrigation sprinklers in the fields.
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Eric had never experienced
freezing weather either, so I decided to have a little fun at his
expense! I pulled over to the side and hurriedly told him to hop
out and follow me, we were going to play in the mud! I ran and
hopped right into the closest mud puddle. Frozen solid. The look
on his face was priceless! We played in the mud and stayed
perfectly clean and dry. |
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Bufflehead
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We went on
to the lake in the NW corner of Jacumba and it was loaded with a
variety of waterfowl. Eric is pretty sharp for a novice birder and
was busy sorting them out. |
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The locals put out feed and
kids like to toss bread so these Cinnamon Teal and a few of the
other not so wild wildlife came across the lake squawking as soon as
we appeared on the bank.
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Cinnamon Teal
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Yellow-headed &
Tricolored
Blackbirds
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The
blackbirds, loud and numerous were just becoming active. We looked
into the tree above us and the uppermost bird was the only
Yellow-headed Blackbird we saw, along with a male Tricolored and a
male Red-winged!! Talk about a "triple crown"!
Just seconds before I snapped this shot, the Red-winged flew out!
:-(
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Female & Male
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Red-winged
Blackbirds
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It was a
good thing we started early because there was little snow left and
a lot of people looking to play in it. No, I was not about to toss
him off the cliff, I set the timer on the camera and had to hustle
to barley make it into the shot. We played in the snow, ate lunch
at Cuyumaca Lake and then visited Kathie in Julian before dropping
off the mountain to check out Anza- Borrego Desert S. P.
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Uncle Bob & Eric
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Costa's Hummingbird
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This male Costa's Hummingbird is a regular in
front of the visitors center at this time of year.
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Verdin can be hard to get a camera on when you are
doing it through a spotting scope. This one appears to be playing
hide and seek and that is about what it was like getting the shot!
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Verdin
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Para sailing at
Ocotillo Wells
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As we came into Ocotillo Wells just at sunset, the sky was full of
Para sails of every color going in every direction. When this guy
noticed us watching with binoculars he came right over us with a
hardy wave hello.
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