Today Is For The Birds...(Or About Them)

Today Sue takes over the blog with pic's that she got on the day we arrived here.With just a short walk down the beach and still within the camping area....she was able to capture a bit of what this lake has to offer the birder.
In the pic above there are hundreds of Northern Pin-Tails sitting with the White Pelicans,along with a few Sandpipers,Avocets,Black Necked Stilts and Ring Billed Gulls and maybe a Black Bellied Plover or two.
We all admit to not being very good on shore bird identification,so bare with us you birder readers of this blog.

Now some close-ups from the top picture.

Black Necked Stilts.

We think..a Western Sandpiper above.

American Avocet below.

The raised plate on the bill of these Pelicans,is a breeding sign.

A juvenile Ring Billed Gull

Its so nice to look out the window just as the sunlight hits the water about 7a.m. and see a half dozen Pelicans gliding along close to shore,with the brightness of their white plumage contrasting with the blue of the water.

I spent most of the day yesterday just sitting and watching the activity on the water and shoreline behind the trailer.At least a half dozen Pelicans were there all day.

Ron and Sue spent the day at the "Sony Bono Wildlife Refuge" at the bottom end of the lake,and came back with tales of a good birding day with some nice pics that I hope they will share.

From Desert To Salton Sea

It was only a 75 mile drive(about 30 as the crow flys)but a big difference,and we could smell the salt lake before we even saw it.
We came out to the lake at Salton City(a sleepy little place)which is just across from our present location,but had to travel north around the lake and down the eastern shore.The Recreation area stretches down the top half of the lake and we are at Salt Creek Primitive Campground,which is about half way through the Rec. area."It has a $5.00 a day for seniors fee" with garbage,water,and porta-potty.
There are about a dozen other R.V'ers here,spread out along the water's edge,including a very nice host.
Set-up took a bit of doing as the area slopes in 2 directions,but like I mentioned yesterday,my fear of many houseflies did not materialize,so hopefully we will be ok.The host told us of no problem.
Indio will be our shopping area for this leg of the trip,its about 25 miles away.So Ron and I quiz ed the host lady for the "where too's" like propane,Wal-mart etc.,and Ron's 1st question"How far to the nearest Burger-King?What a guy!

Sue wasted no time hitting the beach in search of some bird pics.And she got some good ones even with the afternoon glare off the water(will show some tomorrow.)
There was one white pelican off shore,but wasn't coming in too close.She finally walked up the beach and found a whole flock of them along with several other species of shore bird.
So far with my limited bird knowledge,I noticed grebes, an egret and several types of gull,like the ring beak.
I had to laugh as Ron and I were sitting and watching the goings on with all the birds on the water....that the pelicans wait for a gull to catch a fish,then they chase after him, and in one incidence,the gull shot straight up and the 2 pelicans collided with each other.What a hoot!


For those who are not familiar with this lake,here are a few facts:...We are at an elevation 227 ft (below) sea level.The lake is a 360 square miles or (241000 acres) California's largest lake.Its 35 miles long and 15 miles wide. Average depth,20-50 ft.It has no natural outlet....What flows in,stays.... and evaporates.Salt volume 401 tons.
Its fed mainly by agricultural drainage and storm runoff.Evaporation is 6 ft per year.
It was formed by an accident in 1905 when the flooding Colorado river broke through a levee in Mexico,south of Mexicali,forming a river that flowed into the Imperial Valley,creating the lake.

Its on the Pacific flyway,and the Salton Sea holds hundreds of millions of fish that feed wintering birds.Its a birding paradise,with more than 350 species that frequent the sea,and up to 4 million individual birds may be found here at any time.
Weather is nearly perfect at the Salton Sea in spring, fall and winter.Daytime temps average 75 (24c) with night time lows of 48 (9).
Summer is another story with daytime temps exceeding 100 (38c) with night time lows of 40-80 (21-27.)

Below is last nights sunset.I've taken these shots many times over the years here and every time it will catch a bird in flight somewhere in the pic.


If you want to see our PRESENT LOCATION ....Then keep clicking the little 9318 dish for zoom.OR up in the right hand corner,click on Google earth and zoom it to our exact location in the camping area.

Goodbye Borrego Springs...Today Is Moving Day.

As another two week stay comes to a close,I must say that its been an enjoyable one.
But 2 weeks in any one spot is usually enough,even though I didn't see or do everything I wanted.I guess laziness and warm days made the horizontal position more appealing.....That's why I snowbird.
This spot is a "must return"and the price is right.Free camping in an old desert gravel pit is not everybody's cup of tea,but if you want privacy and quiet,this is the place.And all the sights are a short drive away.Our only regret was the difficulty in getting rid of our household garbage as many dumpsters are locked or watched carefully.The one dumpster we were using,off by itself in a big square,magically disappeared one day.

I like the quiet,easy access to the shopping around the town,without the heavy snowbird traffic clogging the streets,like in Yuma.Look at the main street in the above pic if you don't believe me...Look out...here comes a bicycle!

So...A short look back with photo's of this region.....Below is one of the miles and miles of citrus groves that dot the area north of town.Look at all these grapefruit.Right along the side of the road......No midnight shopping for this guy as a large bag of them can be purchased on the honor system,for $3.00....besides that's way past my bedtime.

Here is an R.V. Park on a golf course.Hard to get a shot through a chain link fence.

Below is an Ocotillo cactus with its red blooms coming out.

And below again is what is called a "Smoke Tree".....very pretty in the sunlight for something that is just plain white.

Wandering Willy really does love the desert,but he has to stop posing with his hands on his hips all the time,as I realized looking back through the last few blogs.It must be a throwback to the old "Jolly Green Giant" commercials...HO HO HO....

Back to moving day...Our plan is to go over to the Salton Sea Recreation Area for a few days,to see the white pelicans in their winter home.

Some people cant get past the smell of the area...but it doesn't bother me....Its the thousands of housefly's trying to get into your trailer,10 at a time,that gets me,as was the case the last time I visited....So we will see what happens today and make our decisions as we go.Cottonwood campground in Joshua Tree National Park is an alternative......so to quote Gil Favour of "Rawhide" again.......Lets head em up and move em out.......Those cows didn't need a "dump station".

The Borrego Badlands From Font's Point View

I've been here for almost 2 weeks and didn't really realize what was just over the distant ridge a few miles from our campsite.So as yesterday morning was dawning as another warm windless day, an early start was in order.

The destination was Font's Point View, 4 miles up a dry wash road that was only recommended for 4x4 vehicles,but I figured the old van with its posi-traction could do the job...Well it was a bit of a white knuckle experience as I hit my first bit of soft sand and slithered around a bit.Stopping and turning around was not really an option at this point as each side of the main travelled part of the wash was deeper and softer.Much of the main travel part was heavy washboard mixed with soft sand.
It was a nice gradual climb of over 500 ft in the span of 4 miles, and other than a few rough spots that I didn't see coming, due to the glare of the sun on the white sand....that stretched and compressed the van's suspension in quick succession...it was sort of a nice drive.

The last bit to the parking area was a narrow one way road.Once parked it was a short walk up the hill........and WOW!....what a view...It was a straight drop off of up to 900 ft below as I stood behind the cairn not wanting to get any closer to the edge.

This spot is noted as one of the most breathtaking views of the whole desert southwest.

This pic(above) was taken standing at the edge with one leg back and hoping that a sudden gust of wind didn't materialize.

Looking east,you can just see the Salton Sea in the distance with the Chocolate Mountains behind as they point off to the southeast and the Arizona border.(difficult to get a good shot looking into the sun)

Below....looking south.

Below we are looking to the west and the north end of Borrego Springs.All the dark area is miles and miles of citrus groves.And at the base of the small Coyote mountain in the foreground is the Peg leg Boondocking spot.Our camp is located just at the right edge of the pic,600 ft down from my vantage point.

This is a little further to the right and the Clark Dry Lake,which is where we will end today's little journey.(The white patch)Almost 900 ft below my vantage point.

Its hard to believe that millions of years ago this area was a grassy Savannah with lakes and streams.mammoths,sloths,zebras and sabre toothed cats roaming around.

We are now coming back down the wash.

The wash actually travels all the way down to the Clark Dry lake,but we get on the highway and travel back past our camp and down the gravel road to reach it.



We have finally reached our destination in what is called the "Borrego Sink" (Clark Lake)at 400 ft,actually lower than Borrego, down in the valley by 200 ft.

You can see the white salt deposits of the lake bed.

Below:
GOOD LORD! There's some clown out there crawling along yelling something about WATER......WATER......or beer or something.

NOTE: all elevations taken using Google Earth.....I forgot that I had my Garmin GPS with me.........DUMMY...........

The Visitor Center.....Revisited

As our time here winds down to the last few days,I wanted to go back and spend more time at the "Anza-Borrego State park Visitor Center." I really haven't taken the time to tour this huge park with its 500 miles of back country roads and hundreds of hiking trails.Mainly due to the fact that its mostly 4 wheel drive(soft sand)and I really don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.But there are really many interesting canyons,one with running water all year long,that goes from 3900ft all the way down to the desert floor.Also there are many Palm Oasis..s..s.. to be found(hows that for grammar.)And in the area that we are located is a large and very interesting badlands formation.So time is spent looking at displays and video's on the area from the comfort of the 7000 sq ft visitor center.(Pic above)Its actually underground.

Here is the information counter above

At the entrance above an excellent map of the park,sits a model of a full sized "Aiolornis Incredibilis"the incredible bird god of the winds.This extinct bird was about 4 ft tall and had a wingspan of 16 ft.It was the largest bird ever to soar the skies of the northern hemisphere.It was thought to have stalked its prey on the ground...I'm glad I wasn't around.

Some of the display area.

Outside the entrance is a small pond with the prehistoric "Pup Fish."I'm hoping that I have sized this pic of the information sign so it can be "CLICKED ON"and read.

Here is a view of the pond below,with above sign.

Today I may try to explore the badlands...so...if there is no blog tomorrow....will someone please come looking for me....

Ah! The Wonders of Satellite Communication

Yesterday, as most people know,was Superbowl Sunday and I like many others, like to watch the game,at least in part.(See 2 satellite dishes in pic above)they have something to do with this little story.
Such was the case late yesterday afternoon as Ron and I had been sitting out enjoying the afternoon sun,having the usual gab fest.It was time for me to go in and turn on the t.v and pop a cool one........but....Hold on thar!....My Star choice satellite t.v. is showing no authorization on all channels.This is what they do on occasion,usually at the end of a month,they send out a code change to the receivers,to stop pirating.Now this is OK if you are plugged into power all the time,but when boondocking,we turn the power to the receivers off at bedtime and usually in the middle of the night they send out the new code.

The first thing I did was check with Ron to see if it had happened to them and they were OK....strange,we are sharing the same dish.I have 2 receivers and both were out.
The last time this happened to me was 3 years ago on New Years day when we were at Organ Pipe and I had to stand at the only pay phone in the park....on hold....with a line up of people waiting......to get my turn with a Star Choice rep.15 minutes later I get the rep and request a hit on my receiver and by the time I got back to the trailer,the wife was watching a program.
But not this time...with the wonders of satellite technology and me travelling with 2 satellite dishes,I sent a signal out from one dish and within a minute another signal came to the other dish and travelled up the coax to both my receivers and voila!....we have t.v. again....Aint technology grand?

This is a little known service that Star Choice has that saves the long wait on the phone,and for me yesterday,the nearest phone was several miles away.Just the joy of having Internet where ever you are....I logged on to Star-C customer service with my account # and code....found Troubleshooting.......found the section at the bottom that says..."Restore missing channels or PPV problem".....Clicked the SUBMIT button,and in less than one minute a notice appeared saying you should now have your authorization back.
I looked up at my t.v and there was Bart Simpson.....Oh joy!....Do I want TV that bad?
So that is my little true tale of the wonders of satellite communication.
Some more of Sue's bird pics,taken in the past month.Thanks guys...One of these days I'll get a camera that can take nice close-ups. Above is the Rock Wren.

And this of course is a Raven perched on the top of a Saguaro cactus.

Thought for the day......"Those who live by the sword get shot by those who dont"

A Few Sunday Morning Ramblings

Yesterday was a hot day (topped 80)with very little breeze.I attempted as part of my morning exercise routine,to do my slow jog down into the Clark Lake Dry Bed just north of our camp.I made it 3/4 of the way and turned back as it was getting too warm and I didn't have any water with me.So the rest of the day was spent sitting in the shade of the vehicles.Up until now,we always sat in the warm sun,but not today.

We have for the first time a couple of other R.V.'ers,who decided to park fairly close to us.We call a couple of hundred yards close in these parts.Both from B.C. Nice quiet people.One left yesterday to stay in the $900.per month park with the golf course in Borrego.

Late yesterday afternoon,as I was trying to catch up on my back episodes of "24" that I have recorded on my DVR,and Ron came up to the trailer window,shouting that we have a visitor.(SEE PIC ABOVE)This Tarantula was "HELL BENT"going somewhere in a hurry,and nothing was stopping him.That pic is him going away from me as I jumped out of the way from my first pic of him coming toward me.

This guy is at least 4"-5" inches across.I've seen them this big in Mexico,but not up here.In fact I've never seen one here on the desert as its usually too cool and they are underground for the winter with the rattlers,which I've also not encountered here.

In fact the last rattler I saw, was last year in the campground in Celestino Mexico,and I almost stepped on him as he was crossing the road.Without a word of a lie,he was a "Diamond Back"with a body as thick as a soup can.And he like this Tarantula couldn't have cared less whether I was there or not.

Now to a lighter note,this is the Costa's Hummingbird that is nesting in the parking lot of the visitor center, that I mentioned yesterday.

Wiley coyote looking for the little beep-beep guy.These shots courtesy of Ron's camera.

We have noticed that the coyotes down here seem a little healthier than the one's we see back home.

Another of the metal art north of town.

And finally on a bit of a sad note.Our friends,Murray and Denise are on their way home to the park I also live in.

Denise has become ill and was stabilized in the Yuma hospital until she could travel.

They should be arriving home late today.Get well soon,Denise.

This pic of them and their 2 dogs,Jessie and Chico,was just taken a week and a half ago at plot Knob(Yuma)when they came out to say goodbye to us when we were leaving for Borrego Springs.