Finney & Ramer Lake, Salton Sea Bird Trip

Betty's Kitchen, Colorado River Valley, Salton Sea, Cibola NWR
Jan 15-19, 2001, Cool-Warm, 40-65
Elderhostel Group of 31 Fantastic Participants

A most enjoyable week-long trip led by Bob Miller, Heidi Lauchstedt, and me, Henry Detwiler.
137 species total

Bob, Heidi, and I started out the week with our group just south of Betty's Kitchen, where we found a Great Horned Owl roosting in a small abandoned date palm grove.

Phainopepla at Betty's Kitchen	We walked the trail around Betty's Kitchen and tried to get a Crissal Thrasher to respond to a tape. One sang in the distance, but wouldn't come in. We all got wonderful looks at a Phainopepla, though.
Other stops on Monday included Mittry Lake, Laguna Dam and its settling ponds, and Senator's Wash, where we located a Common Loon hanging out with Common Goldeneyes.	Lunch at Laguna Dam
Laguna Dam Spillway in the back	Looking over West Pond

Clear Lake

On Tuesday morning we took a cruise between Martinez Lake and Laguna Dam with Smokey Knowlton. We were treated to tranquil backwaters, fantastic scenery, and close-up looks of Rock Wren, Belted Kingfisher, Clark's & Western Grebes, and another Great Horned Owl.
	On the Colorado River

Great Horned Owl - s. of Betty's Kitchen

On Tuesday afternoon Renee Robichaud gave us a fine tour of the closed area of Imperial NWR, with our first looks at Vermillion Flycatcher and Canada Geese. On Wednesday we drove up to Cibola NWR to see hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and thousands of wintering waterfowl. We also called in a Crissal Thrasher!

Obsidian Butte

Thursday and Friday were devoted to the Imperial Valley and the Salton Sea. At Obsidian Butte we were treated to a rare winter view of an adult Yellow-footed Gull.

Among the many birds of prey we found Osprey, Peregrine & Prairie Falcons, and this accommodating Merlin.

Female Merlin at Obsidian Butte

Thayer's Gull at Rock Hill	At the headquarters we found two great birds. The Thayer's Gull (pictured here on the left) and an out-of-place Black and White Warbler.
Rock Hill Trail provided wonderful looks at Greater Roadrunner, Abert's Towhee, and Gambel's Quail.	Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR
In a burned field off McConnel Road, Heidi found us a Mountain Plover, and at Finney Lake we located the wintering Lesser Nighthawks, Cactus Wren, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and a Plumbeous Vireo. The complete bird list is below.

See you next year!

Great Horned Owl at Martinez Lake


#	Species Name
1	Common Loon
2	Clark's Grebe
3	Western Grebe
4	Eared Grebe
5	Pied-Billed Grebe
6	Brown Pelican
7	White Pelican
8	Double-Crested Cormorant
9	Great Blue Heron
10	Green Heron
11	Great Egret
12	Cattle Egret
13	Black-Crowned Night Heron
14	Snowy Egret
15	White-Faced Ibis
16	Sandhill Crane
17	Northern Shoveler
18	Green-Winged Teal
19	Wood Duck
20	Ruddy Duck
21	Ring-Necked Duck
22	Redhead
23	Northern Pintail
24	Mallard
25	Lesser Scaup
26	Common Merganser
27	Common Goldeneye
28	Cinnamon Teal
29	Canvasback
30	Bufflehead
31	American Wigeon
32	Snow Goose
33	Ross' Goose
34	Canada Goose
35	Gadwall
36	Common Moorhen
37	Virginia Rail
38	American Coot
39	Sora
40	American Avocet
41	Black-Necked Stilt
42	Black-Bellied Plover
43	Killdeer
44	Mountain Plover
45	Long-Billed Dowitcher
46	Stilt Sandpiper
47	Common Snipe
48	Spotted Sandpiper
49	Willet
50	Marbled Godwit
51	Lesser Yellowlegs
52	Least Sandpiper
53	Dunlin
54	Western Sandpiper
55	Long-Billed Curlew
56	Greater Yellowlegs
57	Thayer's Gull
58	Forster's Tern
59	Caspian Tern
60	Yellow-Footed Gull
61	Herring Gull
62	California Gull
63	Bonaparte's Gull
64	Ring-Billed Gull
65	Turkey Vulture
66	White-Tailed Kite
67	Cooper's Hawk
68	Northern Harrier


#	Species Name
69	Osprey
70	Red-Tailed Hawk
71	American Kestrel
72	Merlin
73	Peregrine Falcon
74	Prairie Falcon
75	Ring-Necked Pheasant
76	Gambel's Quail
77	Rock Dove
78	Mourning Dove
79	Inca Dove
80	Common Ground Dove
81	Greater Roadrunner
82	Burrowing Owl
83	Great Horned Owl
84	Lesser Nighthawk
85	Anna's Hummingbird
86	Belted Kingfisher
87	Gila Woodpecker
88	Ladder-Backed Woodpecker
89	Northern Flicker
90	Red-Naped Sapsucker
91	Black Phoebe
92	Vermillion Flycatcher
93	Say's Phoebe
94	Horned Lark
95	Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
96	Tree Swallow
97	Common Crow
98	Common Raven
99	Verdin
100	Marsh Wren
101	Rock Wren
102	Cactus Wren
103	House Wren
104	Western Bluebird
105	Mountain Bluebird
106	American Robin
107	Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
108	Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
109	Loggerhead Shrike
110	Crissal Thrasher
111	Northern Mockingbird
112	American Pipit
113	Phainopepla
114	European Starling
115	Plumbeous Vireo
116	Orange-Crowned Warbler
117	Yellow-Rumped Warbler
118	Common Yellowthroat
119	Black-And-White Warbler
120	Vesper Sparrow
121	Yellow-Headed Blackbird
122	Western Meadowlark
123	Red-Winged Blackbird
124	Great-Tailed Grackle
125	Brown-Headed Cowbird
126	Brewer's Blackbird
127	House Sparrow
128	White-Crowned Sparrow
129	Song Sparrow
130	Savannah Sparrow
131	Sage Sparrow
132	Dark-Eyed Junco
133	Lincoln's Sparrow
134	Brewer's Sparrow
135	Abert's Towhee
136	Spotted Towhee
137	House Finch