San
Diego Bird Festival
"Salton Sea Sojourn"
Feb.
11-12,
2002
Guide - Bob
Miller
An overnight trip from San Diego to the Salton Sea and back through
Anza-Borrego Desert SP and the Laguna Mountains.
For more festival pictures
click HERE
109 species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
Black Phoebe
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At 0600 we
were on the freeway and counting already! First stop was
Jacumba for Tricolored Blackbird and a couple of
Californians...Quail and Thrasher that is! Dropping off Mountain
Springs grade, we picked up Rock Wren, Black Phoebe, coffee and a
snack.
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Ferruginous Hawk, as we were
enroute to the Imperial site of the New River Wetlands
project was great. So were the wetlands! From there we struck out
for the Salton Sea. This little group of dozing birds hold a
secret, click on the thumbnail and look closely at their silhouette. |
Black-necked
Stilt & American Avocet
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Western Gull
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We did not
find any Yellow-footed Gull but this lone Western Gull is a rarity
at the Salton Sea. Ironic since we had seen hundreds of them in
San Diego during the week of the festival. |
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We raced to the center of the Imperial Valley just in time to see
several hundred Sandhill Cranes fly out to their night roost. The
two individual birds on the bottom left were much larger than all of
the others. After a great dinner at Su Casa Restaurant, one tired
group of birders hit the hay.
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Sandhill Cranes
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After a fine continental
breakfast at the Brawley Inn, and a walk around the neighborhood for
Gila Woodpecker and Common Ground-Dove, we were on our way West to
Unit One of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR. We had this Burrowing Owl
along the way.
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Burrowing Owl
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There were
thousands of Ross' and Snow Geese with a few Canada's in the mix.
The geese were moving around a lot and were constantly coming over
us.
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Looking at geese.
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Costa's Hummingbird
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One last try
for Yellow-footed Gull at Poe Road almost worked but young gulls
in-between their seasons....? Off to the Anza-Borrego Desert
SP we went. This Costa's Hummingbird is the semi- official greeter
outside the visitors center.
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We initially thought this was an Anna's
Hummingbird building a nest just outside the door of the visitors
center. After studying the numerous pictures taken of it, I have
concluded that it was a Black-chinned. Never enough time in a day,
we went up the very steep Montezuma Grade and into Julian for Ice
Cream and a visit with Rick at The Birdwatcher.
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Black-chinned Hummingbird
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Cuyumaca Meadow
in the Laguna Mountains
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Timers on cameras are great! After several stops in the Laguna
Mountains, it was time to put on the blinders and get on down the
mountain. There was that 3 o'clock deadline thing again! We made
it with ten minutes to spare. Shucks, could have made one more
stop. Help, I'm birding and I can't stop! PS, did you find the
Yellowlegs?!
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