31 May 04

Gulls in the Heat

rookery.jpgWe’re back from our short group birding trip to Southern California. Highlights: singing gray vireos; tricolored blackbirds in Jackson Pines near Hemet Lake; a gorgeous common king snake this morning; a heron rookery last night with over 15,000 birds, still flying in as we left for dinner; a date shake at lunch today in Mecca; a tantalizing split-second look at what was likely an anhinga, which has been reported as overwintering; and a ruddy ground-dove over the cleanest pigsty I’ve ever seen. kingsnake.jpg

Lowlights: the salt-crusted muck around the Salton Sea which has a unique, um, aroma; the smog in the valley from Ontario Airport to Indio; and the cattle fattening station near Finney and Ramer lakes.

Numenius will post some of his many sketches tomorrow. Richard will be posting lots of photos of birds on A Brit Abroad tomorrow also [update, June 1: Richard’s account of Day One can be found here; Day Two is here, Day Three here, Day Four here.]. For now we’re pretty tired, having collected four fat, spoiled kittens who now all seem to have names: Babette, Charlie, Louis, and Diego.
datesinmecca.jpg

Gull identification is not for the faint of heart, but we had incredible looks (after a lot of hard slog) at three yellow-footed gulls, normally found in Mexico and points south.

Posted by at 08:06 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. Welcome home – looking forward to seeing the sketches and photos.

    — Jenny    31. May 2004, 23:27    Link
  2. Though I’m way out here on the other coast, I feel like I’ve gotten to know the Salton see a bit after seeing a documentary on it last month at the Boston Independent Film Festival.
    Are you familiar with “PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA” (http://www.ifsboston.org/2004fest_filmPlagues.html)? I thought it was fairly well done and the issues it raised were fascinating.

    Looking forward to seeing your images of it.

    Tim




    — Tim    1. June 2004, 03:50    Link
  3. Next time I’ll spell ‘sea’ right. Gotta get that coffee…

    — Tim    1. June 2004, 03:52    Link
  4. I have such fond memories of Date shakes – so glad you imbibed! Richard’s photos were grand… I have NEVER seen such a cooperative Chat! Bravo! Three Yellow footed Gulls – what a treat for all of you. Have fun with the kitties and its not too soon to be looking for good homes for them!
    Hugs

    — Lindy Loo    1. June 2004, 12:06    Link
  5. HEY—!! I seen a Western Tanager up there in Oregon—not that I knew what it was, but somebody said. Does that count? sucker looked like a parrot, so much color, etc.

    — Doc Rock    1. June 2004, 21:39    Link
  6. Salton Sea was one of my childhood memories when my father wanted to do something with the kids. We’d be sunburnt and miserable with these nasty little sand flies, while he drank beer. But even then we noticed the birds that we had never seen before. These reports help establish that it is never too late to have a wonderful childhood.

    — anonymous    3. June 2004, 12:55    Link

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