Have been in the Socorro area for three weeks now. Had planned to stay in the area a few more days to avoid some of the Thanksgiving crowds, but it has gotten cold here again. Weather Underground is saying it could get down to 19 degrees tomorrow night, while weather.com has it 10 degrees warmer. Who to believe? I’ve had a single propane tank filled three times since I’ve been here. That’s more than I’ve done in the last six months! Went out and got a ceramic heater today. The furnace needs to be kept on to keep the pipes from freezing, but the portable heater can be useful to quickly heat an area. The downside is the ceramic heater draws a lot of power.

Have seen a number of sandhill cranes sitting down this visit (to the right of the standing one). Maybe the ground provides some warmth and/or they are really tired after a long flight.

A “ball” of black birds above cranes eating in a corn field.

Mallards surrounded by geese.

Lesser scaup (top) and Northern pintail (bottom).

A male (upper) and female (lower) Gambel’s quail.

Kestral

I have been in the Riverside area for two weeks getting routine maintenance done on my truck, trailer, and myself. Spent one day at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach while my trailer was being serviced and was really impressed. There was a twenty year court battle with a land developer to create this refuge along the coast where almost every square inch is developed. My hats off to the people who fought this battle.

Above: An adult breeding snowy egret wrangles a fish.

On walking along the trail at Bolsa Chica, an adult killdeer got my attention by running to the side of the trail and looking like she was nesting (top picture). When I started to move on, the killdeer ran back to the trail and seemed to try and get my attention. Then I saw two young killdeers exploring the side of the trail. The mother seemed to have been trying to divert my attention from them.

Greater scaups.

Yellowlegs (greater or lesser).

I spent most of my time at Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside. There are two pairs of herons nesting in tall trees there. Also saw a lot of western bluebirds (below).

Stayed at Prado Regional Park a few days, where I saw the peacock below. There are around 25 of them that stay around the park office area.