So I went away for a couple of days at the end of last month. As it turned out, I took a lot of photos. So many, in fact, that I’m pretty sure I’ve spent more time looking at the photos and putting together diaries than I actually spent in Carrizo Plain, Anza Borrego and Salton Sea.
Oh well.
Anyway, as I was putting together last week’s diary early Sunday morning, it became obvious that there were too many pix and the Salton Sea needed its own diary to avoid bandwidth overload. Well, let’s wrap this thing up, shall we?
Last week, this guy asked you to keep your eyes open for the Salton Sea diary. Here you go...
No pretty flowers this week, much less fields of them as far as the eye can see. Salton Sea’s not that kind of place. The fields there have work to do – the surrounding area includes a lot of ag land.
But even ag land has a few surprises. Look a little closer in front of those hay bales...
We stopped to ogle the owls for a few minutes, then continued to the Sonny Bono (!) Wildlife Refuge. I really should get a hat from there one of these days, on general principle, but I just can’t do it... on general principle. There are actually some pretty cool birds right at the visitor center.
Gambel’s Quail (male above, female below... a little too early for chicks)
The quail were at a feeder set up near the visitor center, and they were busy squabbling with bunnies to get at the stuff that had fallen to the ground. Also beneath the feeders were Ruddy Ground Doves – look at their size to the House Sparrow in front and the White-crowned sparrow in back. I always knew they were small, but never had such a clear comparison.
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Not all of the avian activity was at the feeders. In typical towhee fashion, this Abert’s has decided to stay low-key and was hanging out behind the scenes.
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Somewhat less subtle was the flock of Great-tailed Grackles in some nearby palms. When they're sounding off, it sounds like a bunch of video games sitting in the treetops.
Other palms held other surprises:
(OK, not entirely surprising... there was a barn owl in the exact same tree two years ago.) larger version
Oh, owls! That’s right! I wonder if those other guys are still out there? Yep, lots of ‘em, basking in the glow of the afternoon sun
Owls held their ground in the fields, but other birds sailed above. A flock of White-faced Ibis soars overhead, reminding us that there is supposed to be water nearby.
It’s hard to say what the future holds, but it looks like the Sea got a little bit of a reprieve with this year’s rains. Water levels look like they’ve held steady, and bird life was plentiful in the few areas we visited. When you see the abundance of bird life here and realize what an important area this is for birds (despite its short history in its present incarnation), you have to hope that things can be worked out to restore the health of this body of water.
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Avocets and stilts and ducks and pelicans and cormorants and herons and egrets and all because of the water.
It was time to begin the drive back to Anza Borrego, but that didn’t mean the birding was over. We kept our eyes peeled to the berms by the ditches, and were rewarded with a few more sightings of our favorite denizens of the area...
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... and I think they’re trying to tell me that it’s time to wrap things up for the day.
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I will be away the next two Sundays, but we will have some excellent guest diarists.