Imperial
Valley w/ Doug & Mickey
Nov 29, 2003
Narrated by Bob Miller
A fun morning of
scouting on a picture perfect fall day!
67
species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
Longspur country |
Our first get together was over a great steak dinner and bottle
of wine at the Calipatria Inn! Next morning we pulled out just as
the sun popped up and were birding right away. Mountain
Plover and Long-billed Curlew were among the first great birds of
the morning as we rolled through the farmland. |
| As the sun warmed us up it also warmed up the Cattle Egrets who
were joining us in the field. The American Pipits and Horned
Lark numbers were amazing and we were soon hearing the
Chestnut-collared Longspur as well. |
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| With a little patience we soon had a few Chestnut-collared
Longspurs in our scopes. A small flight of LBJ's buzzed by
us and we heard a distinctive little rattle that told us something
special was with that group. We searched frantically as they
landed near us and were very lucky to have a Lapland Longspur
centered in the scope! |
Doug
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Mickey
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Savannah Sparrows were numerous as well and we soon had Mountain
Bluebirds hovering near us. We headed into Brawley and made a loop
around Cattle Call Park and then went to what is left of Las
Flores Drive where we had a nice look at the wintering Lewis'
Woodpecker. As we pulled away on D Street the Zone-tailed Hawk
came right over us and circled once to show off which we
appreciated greatly.
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The Brawley Site of the New River Wetlands Project
gave us numerous Gambel's Quail and the we heard lots of Least
Bittern and Sora. An American Bittern was a great treat too. Lunch
was fantastic at Escalera's Su Casa Restaurant and then it was
time to head home with a great new friendship in bloom!
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Savannah Sparrow
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