Archive for the ‘California’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Joshua Tree National Park

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Stayed at Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley for a few days. Not sure when the next time I will be in the area during the prime winter, early spring time frame, so wanted to take advantage of it. This campground has great Verizon evdo coverage. Not sure when I’ve had a faster internet connection.

Ten miles south of the campground is Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It is on an earthquake fault where a spring comes to the surface for a short distance. It is just beautiful and worth a visit. Their land borders on Joshua Tree National Park and is managed by the BLM. They have a goal of making a large corridor for wildlife, so they are not boxed into a small area surrounded by developed areas.

Talk about developed areas, houses have been built right up to Black Rock Campground. So glad Joshua Tree National Park has their land. Otherwise, you know houses would have been built all the way through the park and up to the hilltops.

An antelope ground squirrel.  Have wanted to get a picture of one of these small squirrels for a long time. This guy had a burrow under a yucca plant next to my campsite.

Black tailed jackrabbit.

Cactus wren

Male and female Gambel’s quail

Scrub jay. Also saw a large flock of pinyon jays. They are the only jay that travels in a flock. Didn’t get a picture. Drats!!

A titmouse, either a juniper or oak titmouse, not sure which.

Noticed that it became very quiet after around 3:00 pm most days. That must be predator time. A coyote walked through my camp one day during this time.

Stayed at Salt Creek Campground on the Salton Sea prior to coming to Joshua Tree National Park. Not many pelicans there yet. There is a 10-15 degree temperature difference between the Salton Sea area and Black Rock Campground at 4,000 feet elevation.

Posted in Airstream, Bureau of Land Management, cactus wren, jay, National, rabbit, Salton Sea, sunset, titmouse, Yucca Valley | Comments Off

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Made a quick visit to the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. It is listed as an Arizona refuge, but it’s along the Colorado River and the border with California. I stay on the California side, below Blythe.

Saw some sandhill cranes, but most of them were out of range of the refuge tour route. The visitor center said they start to leave in March when the winds pick up. There were lots of Canada geese and other assorted waterfowl. They know they are safe on the refuge, but can be hunted when leave that sanctuary.

The American kestral above has to be one of the calmest I’ve seen. They usually are gone by the time I point my camera in their direction.

A huge ball of yellow-headed blackbirds were in a cleared corn field.

Posted in American kestrel, black bird, Blythe, hawk, wildlife refuge | 1 Comment »

Rancho Jurupa, birds galore

Friday, October 30th, 2009

kestral_jurupa

Have been at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside for about a week. Have been surprised at the wide variety of birds I have been seeing. There are the regulars that I have seen in the past, as well as some new ones.

Do not recall seeing a kestral (above) before.

black_crowned_night_heron

Have seen a number of black-crowned night herons, as I have in the past.

Blue herons and egrets are here as well. Saw a blue heron hunting for gophers this morning. The park has finally hired a gopher control professional who is putting some type of gas into the gopher tunnels.

It’s funny how a blue heron, a night heron, and a great egret will stand side by side next to the water, but will usually get territorial and chase away their own species.

black_phoebe_jurupa

says_phobe

Black phoebe (top) and a Say’s phoebe (lower).

woodpecker_unknown

Not sure what kind of woodpecker this is. Doesn’t look like any of the pictures in my bird book.

3_western_kingbirds

western_bluebird_jurupa2

cedar_waxwings_jurupa

A lot of birds are here as part of a flock. These include Western kingbirds (top), Western bluebirds (middle), and Cedar Waxwings (botton). I have never seen cedar waxwings here before. Also have had first time sightings of Western meadowlarks, but haven’t gotten a good picture yet.

turkmenistan_caracal

A few more photos from the San Diego Zoo. Above is a Turkmenistan Caracal, an endangered cat found in the Middle East and Africa. At the zoo it is located next to the polar bears. I was watching the polar bear cam the other day and saw the outline of the cat’s ears in the background. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was an antelope or deer.

Below, Frank the one-year-old male gorilla, is watching an adult female gorilla eat a green pepper. Parts of it is in her right hand and her left foot. Frank had tried to get some of it, but she wanted it for herself.

gorilla_green_pepper

Posted in American kestrel, bluebird, cedar waxwing, County, gorilla, kingbird, phoebe, Riverside, woodpecker | No Comments »

San Diego Zoo, tres

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

panda_su-lin

Above: Su-Lin, the 4-year-old sister of Zhen Zhen.

I have spent a week in San Diego, going to the zoo almost every day. Finally getting to know my way around. Hope to return in January or February to see the new male panda cub. Believe he will go on exhibit in December.

koala

meerkat

Top: Koala

Lower: meerkats

kalluc_and_ball

It is so much fun to watch Kalluk play ball. He bounces it both upwards and downward through the water.

silverback_gorilla

Silverback gorilla. “All I get is lettuce to eat?”

chinese_leopard

Chinese Snow leopard

cormorant_sdz

flamingo

Posted in cormorants, gorilla, meerkats, panda, polar bear, San Diego | 3 Comments »

San Diego Zoo, more

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

zhen_zhen_10_09

Two-year-old Zhen Zhen.

2_polar_bears_playing_2

Kalluk, on the right, got out of the water and went up to Tatqiq, on the left, and tagged her to come and play. She followed him into the water for one of their play sessions. Kalluk first lets his sister attack him, but he gets rougher as it goes on. They eventually separate to different areas.

elephant_feet_1

elephant_foot_care

The zoo has a new elephant exhibit for Asian elephants. The inside area where elephants receive care is where the public passes by and can observe. Above, one keeper gives an elephant treats while another works on the elephant’s foot.

Below: secretary bird.

secretary_bird

Posted in elephants, panda, polar bear, San Diego | No Comments »

San Diego Zoo

Monday, October 19th, 2009

kalluk_w_carrots

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.

silverback

frank_the_gorilla

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.

camel_pulled

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

heron_sdz

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

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

su-lin_10-09_1

Posted in camel, gorilla, heron, panda, polar bear, San Diego | No Comments »

U.S. Route 395

Monday, October 12th, 2009

upper_grays_meadow2

Drove down U.S. Route 395 again, going south. A fellow camper once made the comment that you should always take the 395 when traveling between Southern California and Northern California. The road is a lot better and there is less traffic than the I-5, and the I-101. The road is better because it doesn’t get all the damaging truck traffic. When you get to Inyoken, however, you have to choose between taking highway 14 to get to the Los Angeles freeways, or to stay on the 395 where it becomes a two lane highway through the desert until it meets the I-15. There is again heavy truck traffic in this stretch and always the threat of sandstorms. Not sure why they don’t create more turnouts. A truck or car is always breathing down your neck and there are very few places to pull over to let them pass.

The first time I  drove the 395 I stayed at an rv park near Lone Pine. Next time I discovered Inyo County’s inexpensive parks. This trip I drove 6 miles west of the town of Independence to Upper Grays Meadow, a National Forest Campground, at around 6,000 feet (picture above). The creek that flows through it can be heard throughout the campground. There is a trail the runs along the creek between Upper Grays Meadow and Lower Grays Meadow. Lower Grays Meadow Campground is for smaller rv”s and has a tight turnaround.

mono_lake_vista

Mono Lake from a vista point with the 395 heading towards Lee Vining.

yellow-rumped_warbler

avocet

A yellow-rumped warbler and two American avocets seen at Mono Lake. Not a large number of birds there this visit.

Below, a butterfly at Upper Grays Meadow. The birds around the area were really good a hiding in the brush. They know if they are out in the open they could be targeted by predators.

butterfly_395

Posted in Airstream, American avocet, Independence, Lee Vining, Mono Lake, warbler | Comments Off

Cosumnes River Preserve

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

sandhill_crane_lodi

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.

3ducks

heron_lodi

great_egret_lodi

Posted in egret, heron, Lodi, sandhill crane | Comments Off

The Lost Coast & Humboldt Bay

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

lost_coast_1

lost_coast_2

Moved a little south of Eureka, to the Victorian village of Ferndale, so I could be closer to the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge and also the road to “The Lost Coast” of Northern California. Highway 211 is a rough, narrow, twisting, and often very steep highway that goes along a segment of the coastline that was too rough for Highway 1 or 101 to go. I wanted to drive it to see if I could take my trailer over it. The only good thing you can say about the 211 is at least it is paved, except for a few very small segments. I would not want to take my trailer over it. If it was a one-lane, one-way road, maybe.

The first picture above is the stretch of coastline you get to after going over the mountains from Ferndale. The second picture is of “The Wall”, a one-mile 18% grade just north of of the coastline stretch.

south_spit

Picture of the South Spit Management Area of Humboldt Bay. A five mile road lets you drive over it.

paraglider

A paraglider was able to take off and land in the same spot on a bluff over the South Spit.

pelicans_cormorants_ca

sandpipers

Birds seen along the sand spit: brown pelicans, cormorants and sandpipers.

Below, a goodwit seen on mudflats on the wildlife refuge.

goodwit

Below: a black phoebe and a dark-eyed junco.

black_phoebe_eureka

dark-eyed_junco_ca

Posted in cormorants, Ferndale, godwit, junco, pelican, phoebe, sandpiper, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

cedar_waxwing_w_berry

I’m back in California where gas is 30 cents more a gallon and state park campgrounds are $35 a night. First stopped in Eureka to visit the nearby Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary. It is amazing how many visitors this water treatment facility gets. Students from Humboldt University study it, there are joggers and walkers with children and/or dogs, bird watchers, and a few winos.

Was pleased to see a hundred or so cedar waxwings (picture above). There are berry bushes all along the walkways, full of berries, which they appreciated. Also saw around 25 night herons. They were hidden in the brush and too far away to get a good picture of.

red_shouldered_hawk

red-shouldered_hawk2

Red-shouldered hawk seen two days in a row.

Was pleased to see the birds pictured below in some woods outside my trailer at the Eureka Fairgrounds rv park: A downy woodpecker, a black-capped chickadee, and a brown creeper. It is the first brown creeper I’ve seen.

downey_woodpecker

black-capped_chickadee

brown_creeper

Posted in Arcata, brown creeper, cedar waxwing, chickadee, Eureka, hawk, woodpecker | Comments Off

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »