Salton
Sea & Imperial Valley
Dec
27, 2001
An all day loop around the Salton Sea with Uma and Chander.
80 species total (list follows at end of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
CP and Uma |
Our day began
early in Thousand Palms. A quick Orange juice to go and we
were headed to the sea. Our first stop on Lincoln Road
turned up a surprise flock of Cedar Waxwings, Gambel's Quail along
the roadside and lots of waterfowl on the fish farm. |
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Johnson Road
was surrealistic as usual and we saw our Common Goldeneye
here. Great Blue Herons were starting to stake out their
territories and peeps were skittering along the shore. It
always seems out of place to see so may Great-tailed Grackles
along the sea's edge. |
Black Phoebe
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A stop at the Salton
Sea State Park failed to turn up the Lesser Blacked-back Gull that
is wintering there for about three or four years now but we did
get four other gull spp. there.
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Western Meadowlark
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Vermilion Flycatcher
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One of the first birds we saw at the Wister
Waterfowl Area was the show-off Vermilion Flycatcher and he was
putting on a show! A stop in Niland for some great
sandwiches and we were on the way again.
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English Road for Western Meadowlarks and Long-billed Curlew.
Schrimpf Road over to Garst Road for Ruddy Turnstone. The
Salton Sea is as low as I've seen it in many years. Two years ago
I was floating in a kayak on this spot. |
CP on the flats at Garst Road |
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Burrowing Owl |
We stopped into the SB Salton Sea NWR for Abert's
Towhee, Ross' and Snow geese. Across Obsidian Butte where we
saw the Peregrine Falcon. Along the sea wall to Lack and
over to Walker where my stake out Barn Owl would not
show. |
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This Burrowing Owl proved to be the hit of the day as we viewed it
from very close. There never seems to be enough time in a
day and sundown was catching up to us. We reminisced the
days highlights over tea back in Thousand Palms and headed our
ways with good memories of great birds. |
Burrowing Owl |
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