Salton
Sea, Borrego Springs & Imperial Valley
Jan
09, 2002
An all day loop around the Salton Sea with Paul, Cindy and Mathew.
91 species total (list follows at end of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
Mathew, Paul and Cindy |
We began early
in thousand Palms and got our first look at the Salton Sea from
the end of Ave. 76. Plenty of birds to be seen there! From
there we headed across the Borrego Salton Seaway in search of
desert inhabitants. We got a few fleeting glimpses of disappearing
LBJ's. When we got into the Mesquite areas we found our
Black-tailed Gnatcatchers and Verdin. |
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Costa's Hummingbird
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Our arrival
at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitors center was greeted
by this obliging male Costa's Hummingbird.
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Anza-Borrego SP visitors
center
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Northern Mockingbird
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From the deserts of Anza-Borrego we were off to
the Imperial Valley. A stop at Poe Road added Yellow-footed
Gull to our trip list. Unit One of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR
showed us lots of geese and several Sandhill Cranes that have
decided to winter here rather than with the 400 or so that
typically winter in the center of the valley.
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Lunch in Westmorland and we were off and birding again. We caught
the sea wall off of Lack Road and made our way across Obsidian
Butte for our second view of the Salton Sea. From there we
headed East and hit the Mountain Plover jackpot with 400+ birds in
a grass field. An added treat was a Prairie Falcon, but I doubt
the Mountain Plover viewed it that way. |
Savannah Sparrow |
Western Meadowlark |
On to Ramer Lake where we had great looks at Clark's
Grebes with Western Grebes to compare side by side. With the
sun setting fast and only minutes left to bird, we decided to pass
on looking for that last lifer on the list, Sage Sparrow, and go
for the sure bet, a male Vermilion Flycatcher that is wintering at
the Wister Waterfowl Area. There is no such thing as a sure bet in
birding. We missed him! Back in Thousand Palms I was treated
to the greatest home cooked steak diner! Thanks Paul and
family! |
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