Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part III

The last few days have been kind of slow as far as Swainson's Hawk numbers go, but last night made up for that. The evening sky was full of hawks; estimates ranged from 300 to 600. It was a spectacular sight. There were also 5 Coyotes near the evening site that put on quite a show greeting and jostling each other while howling. It was quite a wildlife moment.

I've added 2 new birds to my list: Black-throated Gray Warbler and Lark Sparrow. Both birds have beautiful coloring and markings. Some day when I get more savvy I will add links and/or photos of the birds I mention.

Well, 2 more "Hawkwatches" and then I'm headed home tomorrow. Wade follows on Monday. It has been a fabulous trip, can't wait for next year! Thanks for sharing it with me!

Hawkwatch 2012 was a great experience

Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part II



(Very) Happy Campers

The last week has been great, watching hawks morning and night; enjoying time with friends old and new. I saw a "new bird" recently - a Lesser Nighthawk. Look it up, it has very distinctive white wing bars. Yesterday I also saw a Great Egret fly across the valley; an unusual sight in the desert. Counts for the last week (for me, not the Hawkwatch official total) are as follows:

3/21 - 46 SWs and 8 TVs
3/22 - 465 SWs
3/23 - 711 SWs and 42 TVs
3/24 - 270 SWs and 60 TVs
3/25 - 165 SWs 0 TVs
3/26 - 26 SWs and 1 TV
3/27 - 294 SWs and 12 TVs

As you can see the numbers vary greatly from day to day, as do the viewing conditions. Sometimes they fly right overhead and sometimes they are 1-2+ miles away. I am really appreciating my new binoculars. It makes it much easier to see/count and I can also more readily distinguish hawks from vultures.

In addition to the hawks, I have also seen an assortment of other birds, including Quail, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Kingbird and Kestrel. There is also a pack of 4 Coyotes that we see and hear almost daily at the evening sight. They come fairly close to us and are so beautiful.

I've been lucky enough to do some hawk "chasing" with some of the leaders, going where the hawks are and learning a lot about their behavior and migration. This has provided me with several "up close" views of the hawks. They are so majestic and interesting to watch. I'm hopelessly addicted to this experience!

View from evening site

A beautiful desert sunset and a kettle of Swainson's
(ok, black specks high in the sky)

Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part I

Swainson's Hawk
 (photo taken through scope)

We've been camping at Palm Canyon Resort since Saturday. We "survived" the huge storm that passed through over the weekend. Lots of rain and wind, plus COLD temperatures. The storm left a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains and made for beautiful vistas.

Despite the weather, I've been out at the Hawkwatch, morning and evening. It's so great to be here. Also my long-time friend Jane is visiting us from Alaska and has joined us out here in Borrego. Yesterday her sister Janice also joined us. We have all been friends since Jr. High so it is very special to be together again and share this experience.

I will list Swainson's totals below, but want to specifically talk about Monday morning. It was Jane's first day here and we headed out to the morning site. Along the way we saw a group of parked cars so we stopped to see what was going on. There were 200+ Swainson's in the trees very near the road. In the bare branches they were very easy to observe. Over the next couple of hours we saw nearly 300 SWs. Overall the count for the day was over 550! The birds rose up and kettled right overhead and we were treated to spectacular views of the hawks. Jane and I were overwhelmed; it was amazing. I had to give Jane a hard time about her beginner's luck and explained how I had paid my dues over the last 5 years!

Below are the birds I've seen, not overall totals. If you are interested there is now a blog at borregohawkwatch.blogspot.com that lists all the totals and gives lots of detailed information about the Swainson's and the Hawkwatch.

3/16 - 4 SWs, 12 TVs, Anna's, White Crown Sparrow, Ravens, Flicker and Kestrel
3/17 - 0 SWs, Kingbird, Kestrel, Raven
3/18 - 250 SWs, Red Tail Hawk, Raven
3/19 - 300 SWs, 35 TVs.
3/20 - 115 SWs, Kestrel, Raven, Wilson's Warbler, Cactus Wren, White Crown Sparrow, Anna's and
Costa's, Say's Phoebe
3/21 - In campground, saw a YELLOW house finch. A first for me. Evidently it is a dietary issue that causes the birds to be yellow.

Stormy weather

Beautiful Mountains

Snow the day after the storm.

 

Swainson's in trees!







Anza Borrego - and SNOW - February 2012

Wade spent a week in Blair Valley and I joined him for a long weekend. In addition to Keeva, my mom's dog Lilly went with us, as we are currently dog sitting her. It was Lilly's first camping trip and she seemed to enjoy the trip. It as kind of a kick back weekend, very relaxing. The first few days I was there were warm and very pleasant. On Monday it started clouding up and sprinkling and by evening it was REALLY raining. It rained all night and on Tuesday morning we were surprised to see a LOT of snow on the mountains surrounding the valley. I drove home on Tuesday and was enthralled by the snow covered vistas. The snow was down to at least the 2500 foot level. I had never seen snow at Dudley's bakery! On this trip I saw Red Tail Hawks, Meadowlark, Shrike, Roadrunner, Phainopepla, Thrashers, House Finch, and Ravens. See photos below.


Lilly's first camping trip



Evening at our Campsite

Approaching Scissor's Crossing

Eastern Sierras 2011 - Part IV of IV

Fall color on the way to Bridgeport

Today was a great day mostly due to the spectacular fall colors. I wish I could tell you what kind of trees we've been appreciating, but I am not good at identifying trees...yet. We drove up to Bodie, a really interesting ghost town. We saw flocks of sheep on the way up, which is always a treat for us city folks.  The last few miles of the road are dirt and pretty rough, which isn't such a treat (except for Wade!). We've been to Bodie many times before, but today we went to some parts that we hadn't checked out in the past. It involved quite a bit of walking (a big deal only because we were at 8000' + feet altitude. But good exercise!). We also had a nice picnic. The weather was clear and cool.

After leaving Bodie, we drove north to Bridgeport and checked out some campgrounds for next year. We stopped along 395 and took a lot of pictures of all the beautiful trees and vistas. Yes, Wade actually stopped the truck so I could take photos! Later we visited our favorite Mexican Restaurant for a delicious dinner. Driving back to our campground, we watched a beautiful sunset over Mono Lake as we descended from the Bridgeport area. The colors were indescribable. They are NOT in the PMS book! Those of you of the Graphics persuasion will know what I mean.

Tomorrow we are headed south, back to Tuttle Creek Campground outside Lone Pine and then home on October 28th. It's been a memorable trip; we've enjoyed camping in our new rig and we've seen so many beautiful vistas, birds, sunsets and other aspects of nature. Oh, and add the very recognizable Magpie to the bird list.

Thanks for checking out my blog. See below for photos.....




 

Bodie Ghost Town





Resting in front of the Bodie Museum



Fall color



This photo doesn't do the sunset justice - but you get the idea.



This says it all!

Eastern Sierras - Part III

Fall color along Hwy. 395



Left Grandview on the 20th and drove to Mono Lake, marveling at the fall colors all way up 395. We drove past a fairly large fire, that turned out to be a controlled burn (that looked like maybe it became uncontrolled) which unfortunately marred the usually incredible views of Mono Lake. But by the next day, most of the smoke and haze had dissipated. We are camping in luxury again at Mono Vista RV park.

Yesterday we went to the Visitor Center (highly recommended if you are ever in the area) and then took a drive to the south end of the lake, stopping at Panum Crater, the area's youngest volcanic crater. It's about 1 mile off of 120. From the parking lot, it didn't look like much, but we took a trail up to the top and were rewarded with fabulous views of Mono Lake and the snow dusted Sierras. Keeva liked the hike also, well, actually the ground squirrels. It was interesting to see all the formations of volcanic rock, pumice, obsidian, etc. Very impressive.

Then on to the South Tufa area where we again had beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area. Lots of Eared Grebes are here now, stopping to feed and gain strength for the rest of their migration, eating enough insects to add 15% of their body weight. The ranger said there are now 500,000+ Grebes here and I believe it. I looked through my binoculars and was amazed at the sight. I have never seen so many birds of one species!

Today I did some birding in several spots around the lake. So far the Mono Lake list includes: Ruddy Duck, White Pelican, Woodpecker (Downey I think), Song Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird, Coot, Gull, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Audubon's Warbler, Avocets, and Stellar's Jay. The ranger told me I just missed seeing 200+ Pinyon Jays at the County Park.

Sadly, I just discovered that Mono Lake South Tufa Area (and perhaps the Visitor Center) is on the State closure list. This would be a tragedy. PLEASE write your elected officials to protest.

Tomorrow we are going up to Bridgeport and Bodie (ghost town) for a day trip. Weather and fall colors have been spectacular.

See photos below.



Controlled burn



Our Campground

Panum Crater

South Tufa Reserve



View from Panum Crater trail.



Wetlands surrounding Mono Lake





Eastern Sierras 2011 - Part II

View from Tuttle Creek Camp - Mount Whitney Vicinity

Our next stop was the Visitor Center at the Bristlecone Pines in the White Mountains at about 9000 ft. elevation! There was still snow on the ground. We camped at Grandview Campground about 3 miles down the mountain, elevation 8600 ft. It was a primitive campground with breathtaking views. Very few people. Again, we were dry camping and this time we were also "off the grid" - no cell phone coverage. A very unique experience, but kinda liberating!

The habitat was oak/conifer/juniper/sage. We saw Mountain Bluebird, Mountain Chickadee, Scrub Jay, Clarks Nutcracker, Titmouse, White Breasted Nuthatch, Red-Tail Hawk, and an unidentified Falcon type bird. The first night we were sitting outside enjoying a glass of Zinfandel and a Nuthatch flew right down on the table to investigate Wade's wine; not timid at all. It was amazing!

We spent the next few days just relaxing, walking, birdwatching and enjoying ourselves. The weather was very clear and cool in the daytime - in the 60's, but REALLY cold at night, in the 20's. Our heater worked great and kept us comfy. Love those solar panels! We stayed there through October 20th and are now camping near Mono Lake in a private campground with hookups! Living large! Will write again in a few days. See pictures below.




We are happy campers!

  



Why the Campground is named Grandview!




Solar Panels which allow us to dry camp longer -
much better than a generator!

 









Our campsite

 

A beautiful sunset for our last night at Grandview.



 



Keeva is a happy camper too!