Kayaking at the Salton Sea 
Feb 24-25, 2001
   

The San Diego Natural History Museum brought out 11 of their members to kayak and bird the Salton Sea and Imperial Valley. 

Guides: Bob Miller from Southwest Birders and Jen from Aqua Adventures

85 species total (see bird list at bottom of page)

by Bob Miller

The morning began with a clear blue, cloudless sky and barely a breeze.  Eleven adventurous kayaking birders set out to explore the Salton Sea. 


  
The weatherman only missed the arrival time of the predicted storm by two days, and the sky full of American White Pelicans quickly became full of clouds.


  
  
The die-hard naturalist never gives up!  If you have to be in with the fishes you might as well point them out to others.
Saturday afternoon we put in at the much calmer Ramer Lake. Paddling around the islands of vegetation with four species of swallows buzzing by in all directions was magical.


Salton Sea Kayaking

We hauled up on shore to watch wave after wave of the White-faced Ibis and Cattle Egret fly into their evening roost.
Sunday morning we were there for the same thousands of ibis and egrets to start out the day.  So was the rain.

   
Watching the sky fill with birds is most memorable and the rain did not dampen the spirits of these adventurers!
     

The weather wasn't much better later in the week--here I am in a freak hailstorm in El Centro!

 
#

            Species

1 Eared Grebe
2 Western Grebe
3 Clark's Grebe
4 American White Pelican
5 Brown Pelican
6 Double-crested Cormorant
7 Great Blue Heron
8 Great Egret
9 Snowy Egret
10 Cattle Egret
11 Green Heron
12 Black-crowned Night-Heron
13 White-faced Ibis
14 Snow Goose
15 Green-winged Teal
16 Mallard
17 Northern Pintail
18 Cinnamon Teal
19 Northern Shoveler
20 Common Goldeneye
21 Ruddy Duck
22 Turkey Vulture
23 Osprey
24 Northern Harrier
25 Cooper's Hawk
26 Red-tailed Hawk
27 American Kestrel
28 Prairie Falcon
29 Sandhill Crane
30 Common Moorhen
31 American Coot
32 Black-necked Stilt
33 American Avocet
34 Killdeer
35 Marbled Godwit
36 Long-billed Curlew
37 Greater Yellowlegs
38 Willet
39 Least Sandpiper
40 Ring-billed Gull
41 California Gull
42 Bonaparte's Gull
 
 
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           Species

43 Caspian Tern
44 Rock Dove
45 Mourning Dove
46 Common Ground-Dove
47 Greater Roadrunner
48 Burrowing Owl
49 Lesser Nighthawk
50 White-throated Swift
51 Anna's Hummingbird
52 Ladder-backed Woodpecker
53 Northern Flicker
54 Black Phoebe
55 Say's Phoebe
56 Vermilion Flycatcher
57 Horned Lark
58 Tree Swallow
59 Violet-green Swallow
60 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
61 Cliff Swallow
62 American Pipit
63 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
64 Phainopepla
65 Cactus Wren
66 Marsh Wren
67 Northern Mockingbird
68 American Robin
69 Verdin
70 Loggerhead Shrike
71 Common Raven
72 European Starling
73 Orange-crowned Warbler
74 Yellow-rumped Warbler
75 Abert's Towhee
76 Chipping Sparrow
77 Savannah Sparrow
78 Song Sparrow
79 White-crowned Sparrow
80 Red-winged Blackbird
81 Western Meadowlark
82 Yellow-headed Blackbird
83 Great-tailed Grackle
84 House Finch
85 House Sparrow


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Photos © Henry D. Detwiler

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