I’m again parked along the Arroyo Colorado in southernmost Texas. The weather continues to be a lot better than last year, albeit quite windy. A lot of homes still have their windows boarded up.

It has been a very Dickens’ December for me. Listened to Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Bleak House.

The belted kingfisher above gave me a present in landing right by my rv for a few minutes. Bet nature gave it the white dots near it’s eyes just to confuse both predators and prey.

Flycatcher

Great kiskadee

Tri-colored heron in the background,  little blue heron in the foreground.

Below, tri-colored heron. In the first one has a tiny fish in it’s beak.

Had the opportunity to visit Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach again.

Above, a clam has “clamped” down on one of the coot’s toes. The coot is looking around for some assistance from a fellow coot. There were areas where there were a lot of these clams in this protected preserve. The next day I looked for, but did not see a coot with a clam on one foot.

Saw three or four varieties of grebes.

Saw another heron’s nest here. The heron above is taking it’s one twig to it’s mate in the nest.

Think this is a snipe. A snipe is the only short, squat, sea bird that I know of. Corrected by reader: this is a green heron. First picture of a green heron I’ve gotten.

A common yellow-throat

A round stingray

I’m still in Southern California taking care of routine maintenance and  taxes. Spring has finally arrived with temps in the 70′s and 80′s. Have not seen any rain for several weeks.

Above pictures are of sculptures on Galleta Meadows Estate in Borrego Springs. Dennis Avery, of Avery Labels, has a winter home in Borrego Springs, California and owns a lot of land. He had artist Ricardo Breceda create  and place sculptures of creatures and people from Borrego Springs’ past all around the area. I tend to be drawn to the nearby Salton Sea when I’m in this area, because of the birds, but know I’ll be back to stay in Anza-Borrega State Park and Borrego Springs.

The herons are still adding twigs to the two nests at Rancho Jurupa Park. They have been through some strong winds and rain. Glad to see they are still there.

Below, panda mom, Bai Yun, takes a mini nap while laying on her back eating bamboo.

Have been at one of my frequent stopping points, Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California for the past week. Had gone without hookups for more than a week, so really appreciated having electricity again. The weather fronts with rain keep coming through California on a regular basis. Today heavy rain and thunder have been present most of the day.

Two pairs of herons are reusing two nests from last year. Saw one heron bring one twig to the heron in a nest and the waiting heron spent some time arranging that one twig. A red-tailed hawk landed between the two nests one day. The herons in the nests flew away and one came back so it was facing the hawk and started hissing at it till the hawk flew away. Heron’s can hurt hawks with their beaks if they are facing them and are not taken by surprise.

Have seen both herons and egrets hunting gophers in the field by me. The gopher exterminator that was here in the fall must have left some.

Saw an adult and then a juvenile night heron resting in the same tree on two different mornings.

Northern flicker

Cormorants. Have read where some places are killing them because they eat fish meant for fishermen.

Say’s phoebe. Probably the same one I saw in the fall, at least it was hunting and perching in the same spot.

Mallard. Have also seen a small group of ruddy ducks.

Feel like I’m seeing old friends when I see the geese mascots that have been here as long as I’ve been coming here. Glad to see they have made it through another season of kids, dogs, and fishermen.

Visited  South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center that is around 20 miles from my current home base. There are boardwalks through marsh areas that allow you to observe birds close up. The seem to know they are safe and usually don’t fly away. I did not visit Galveston or Rockport, Texas this year, so it is nice to see the coastal birds here.

Above two pictures, tricolored herons

Above, reddish egret (top) and little blue heron (bottom).

White rumped sandpiper (top) and lesser yellowlegs (bottom).

Caspian tern

Top picture: broad-winged hawk

Bottom two pictures: crested caracara (the Mexican eagle).

House (top) and marsh (bottom) wrens. They are elusive, fast moving guys.

Swamp sparrow

Heron’s have to be the curmudgeons of the bird world.

Below, watched a group of white pelicans work their way along a shore, forming a circle to catch fish. They did this over and over, swimming a few feet, then forming the circle. Reminded me of an old dance movie.

Have been enjoying the San Diego Zoo the past few days. I follow the polar bears and the pandas via their webcams and it’s good to see them in person. Also, you get a good workout walking around the zoo, as you are always either going up or down a hill.

Above: Kalluk, the adult male polar bear with a mouth full of carrots.

Top picture: a gorilla striking a pose.

Lower picture: Frank, a one-year-old gorilla that all the gorilla’s have been helping to raise. He had been watching an adult eat a green pepper. He may be holding part of a green pepper plant and not sure he likes the taste.

Some zoo employees were leading two camels down a road. The camels would stop every few feet and need some coaxing to proceed.

A number of herons and great egrets are fly-in guests of the zoo.

Below: Su Lin enjoying her bamboo sitting in a tree.

Made a brief stop in Lodi, California, at the Cosumnes River Preserve. The area is supposed to have an influx of sandhill cranes in the fall. The town of Lodi holds a sandhill crane festival in November. Saw small groups of cranes, as well as waterfowl. If there were affordable rv parks in the area, I might have stayed a few days.

Would also love to visit the Point Reyes National Seashore and other birding spots in the San Francisco area. Here, again, it is hard to find affordable places to stay.

On my way down the #101, about half way between Crescent City and San Francisco, found that gas prices started to be more in line with what I had seen in Oregon. That was a nice surprise.

Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge is near Great Falls, Montana at the western edge of the northern Great Plains and 50 miles east of the Rocky Mountains. It has many of the birds I saw at Camas Refuge in Idaho, with a few differences.

Above, eared grebe with offspring. Still seeing some young ones riding on a parent’s back. The other parent dives for food for the baby during this time. Have seen some young ones like the one above, start diving. The just stay under water a few seconds though.

Breeding sora in the marsh.

Ibis

A standing yellow-bellied marmot. Have also seen a muskrat.

Upland sandpiper

Willet

Long-billed curlew

Phalarope

A night heron carrying a black bird in it’s beak, with the black bird’s significant other chasing after them. The heron disappeared with it’s prey into the marsh foliage.

A pair of western kingbirds are nesting near the refuge visitor center. They fuss at you when you pass by. Have also seen eastern kingbirds.

When I first got to Great Falls, I stayed two nights at Walmart. During the day, I took my trailer to the refuge. One night, there were around 25 other rv’s staying in the Walmart parking lot. After two days, I moved to Fort Benton. It is an unusual small town, in that it’s in a canyon made by the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark thought this area was paradise when they stopped here. It later became the last stop for steamboats from St. Louis and then a major railway stop. The fort was built to protect people from outlaws and indians.

In looking on the web for information on the Upper Missouri River Breaks, found that cattle have caused a lot of problems here, as they have elsewhere.

“The BLM reports that past grazing management has resulted in almost complete elimination of important woody shrub species such as red-osier dogwood, chokecherry, serviceberry, currant, and gooseberry – all of which are highly important as food sources for mammals and birds. Another grazing related problem is the impending demise of riverside cottonwood forests. Presently almost all of the cottonwood trees along the river germinated from seed in the 1880s, before grazing was occurring on the river. As cattle grazing became an entrenched use on the river, cattle have systematically eliminated virtually all young cottonwoods, leaving no replacement trees to take the place of the old and dying mature trees.”

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.